The BoozeBasher staff has a schoolyard crush on Flor De Caña’s rum.  We loved the Gold for mixing, the Grand Reserve for sipping, and even the Extra Dry holds its own amongst a group of people who don’t believe in drinking a rum unless it has some color to it.  Really we are just one happy family of rum drinkers and tasty rums.  Unfortunately, there is always that one that does not fit in with the rest of the family.

    Maybe it’s the cousin that shows up to the family reunion on a chopper wearing ass-less chaps.  Maybe it’s the sister that goes into the adult film industry and wants to show grandma what she does for a living.  In Flor de Caña Black Label’s case, it just didn’t measure up to the standards we have come to expect from Flor de Caña.  Having sampled and enjoyed the rums on either side age-wise, we expected something that mixes well in a cocktail and could be consumed on the rocks without making gargoyle faces.  Sadly, this rum suffers from the middle child syndrome and the Black Label just did not cut it in either case. 

    Flor de Caña Black Label is the middle child of the slow-aged family, spending 5 years in a barrel used only once prior.  This aging time is spent in their original barrel houses which were constructed without air-conditioning, electrical ventilation, or humidifiers.  This provides a natural environment for this line of rums to rest in comfortably.  Compañia Licorera, the parent company of Flor de Caña, has even trademarked this process and believes that it produces the finest family of rums on the market. 

    The aroma of Flor de Caña Black Label is not especially entrancing, as it is dominated by a strong alcohol odor, but it does have hints of sweet molasses and oddly a hint of cotton candy scent.  The flavor on the rocks is not really unpleasant, just disappointing.  It provides the same sort of feeling you get when your son drops a promising law career for one with a group of traveling folk singers.  Yeah, you will lie to your neighbors about his new profession, but you will feel bad about doing so.  It has nice oak flavors with a little bit of pepper, but the aftertaste is a little dry and metallic.  There are no caramel, molasses, or fruit flavors to entice me into another sip.  In fact, the taste is a bit delicate, and when we tried mixing it with cola, it was pretty much obliterated.  Ginger ale is a better mixer, but the Flor de Caña Black Label does not add much to the drink. 

    Well, it doesn’t add much other than an 80-proof dose of liquid courage.  Though even in this category, it was not as effective at the other Flor de Caña products we have enjoyed.  It will still get you nice an tipsy.  Unfortunately, the next day I had a persistent unsettled stomach that lasted for the majority of the day.  Again, this was just one more area that the Black Label did not stack up to its siblings.

    A bottle of Flor de Caña Black Label will cost you about $21, but honestly, I suggest you spend a little less and get the Gold or a little more and get the Grand Reserve.  The Black Label is not a bad rum; it just lacks the extra bite to mix well and yet does not have the smooth bold flavors to be consumed on the rocks.  We are not going to kick it out of our happy little family, but it is going to be relegated to the kids table at supper time.

Sipability - 6.0

Mixability - 6.5

Drunkability - 7.0

Hangover-ability - 5.5

Bang for the Buck - 7.5

Overall -  6.5 

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      Bacardi Razz is one of the many infused daughters of Bacardi Superior rum.  Unlike Bacardi Peach Red, which would be the fat, ugly daughter no one likes, Bacardi Razz arose from the better and more attractive end of the gene pool.  As most of us know, Bacardi isn’t really the best of the rum world, but it is a staple in most bars and homes.  After reviewing Peach Red, I was kind of afraid to even try any more of the Bacardi infused rums.  Lucky, I did, and Razz proved to be far better.

     Bacardi Razz is a carefully crafted product that infuses Bacardi rum, aged one to two years, to the essence of dark and sweet Marionberries and slightly tart red raspberries.  That raspberry flavor can be easily tasted, even from the smallest sips.  This raspberry daughter’s scent is a great one.  Bacardi Razz has almost a cotton candy-like scent.  It’s just a little bit of extra joy you get when drinking this rum.

     Unlike its soft, sweet scent, Razz’s solo taste is harsh.  The raspberry flavor is far too strong.  It’s drinkable by itself, but I wouldn’t recommend it.  The taste leaves a really sour, bitter aftertaste in your mouth.  It feels like cotton mouth except without all the fun of over-drinking the night before.  Even with all of this, it’s amazing what an equal part of Sprite© can do.  It’s a perfect cut for Bacardi Razz.  The raspberry flavor isn’t as strong on the tongue this way, plus, the added sugar and carbonation gives Razz the perfect accent to transform it into a delicious cocktail.

     When a drink tastes this good, it’s easy to put 1 or 15 down in a short amount of time.  I personally drank half the bottle.  I could have stopped a quater of the way down, but I was on the prowl for what many of the infused Bacardi girls tease you with but never give you.  That’s right; I wanted to get drunk.  Sadly, this effort ended as it does for me with most ladies, I got nothing.  I barely got a buzz, and that’s just sad.  It’s 70-proof, but I couldn’t tell.  I admit I am a more seasoned drinker than most, but for half a bottle, I should have gotten something more.  Since I went to bed with no kind of drunk, I awoke with no hangover.  If it weren’t for my horrible breath in the morning, no one would have known I had been drinking the previous night.  I had a very faint headache, but that probably came more from me trying to get drunk than the Razz.

     Another little plus about Bacardi Razz is that it’s really one for the girls.  What I mean by that is the female gender seems to be crazy about this stuff.  Be sure to offer it to any of your female friends, or guy friends if they like the girl drinks.  There’s nothing wrong with a guy being a girl-drink drunk.  At least he’s drinking, right?  Now if you catch him watching “Sex and the City”, it’s time to start asking questions.

     As with most Bacardi flavored rums, the price tag isn’t a very big one.  $18 for a 750ml bottle seems to be the standard for all the infused Bacardi girls.  Razz makes for a great starting drink for either a long night of drinking or a short one around the house.  Just don’t expect to get drunk.  Offering mixed drinks made with this rum might help you make some new friends, no matter if they are causal drinkers or full blown alcoholics.  I’m not going to say this is a bottle that you are going to need around the house at all times, but if you are having a party, dinner, or any social gathering and really want to ease someone into drinking, this is a good bottle to have.  I’ll go ahead and put Bacardi Razz down under the win column for Bacardi.  With so many of these infused Bacardi rums out there, I wonder what else they can find to mix into their rum.

Sipability - 4.5

Mixability - 8.5

Drunkability - 2.5

Hangover-ability - 8.5

Bang for the Buck - 4.0

Chick-appeal - 7.5

Overall - 6.0  

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     Unless you’ve been living as a hermit in a cave sans contact with the outside world for the last fifty years or so, you’ve heard of Bacardi.  Founded in 1862, Bacardi is the world’s largest privately held, family-owned spirits company, and they sell over 200 million bottles per year in 200 countries.  Bacardi rums really gained popularity in the U.S. during prohibition.  During this time, Facundo Bacardi was known to have invited Americans to “Come to Cuba and bathe in Bacardi rum.”  I can only imagine how good that would sound if I were forced to be liquor-free by a cold and misguided government.  Hell, I might have turned Communist as soon I read those glorious words.

     Bacardi Select (previously known as Bacardi Black Label) is a blend of select aged rums that are charcoal filtered for smoothness before mellowing in oak barrels.  It’s a dark amber in color and is medium-full bodied.  They claim a very complex palate containing notes of caramel, toffee, honey, and even leather.  The finish is supposed to be buttery and long with an oaky taste.  That sounds pretty promising for a rum that will only cost you $17 for 750ml, so we put it through our BoozeBasher tests.

     The smell of Bacardi Select is rather pungent.  After a sniff, there is no doubt that the dark-colored liquid in the bottle contains alcohol.  After repeated sniffings and a few burned nose hairs, some of the intricacies of the aroma, like the toffee and honey, become more apparent.  However, the alcohol smell still overpowers everything.  The taste of Bacardi Select on the rocks really runs along the same lines.  All of the infused flavors mesh together and assault your taste-buds at the same time with a bit of a burn.  There is just too much flavor up front, and the taste quickly gives way to an extremely long finish.  This might be a good thing if the the rum were to finish as advertised.  Unfortunately for Bacardi, it really doesn’t.  I didn’t notice much if any butteriness in the finish, and the slight barrel taste was utterly consumed by a dirty metallic flavor that lingered far after the sip.  The aftertaste just ruined the sipping experience for me because it made it taste like a cheap and unrefined rum.  The taste is still far better than RonRico, but that’s not saying much.  I wouldn’t recommend drinking Bacardi Select on the rocks.

     Hoping for a good mixing experience, we mixed Bacardi Select with cola.  The cola really didn’t do much to quell the dirty metallic taste.  It took away some of the bite and burn, but it really just seemed to water down the beverage.  The taste is adequate for a rum and cola, but you can make a much better one for about the same price using Flor de Caña Gold.  I supposed mixing Bacardi Select makes it easier to drink, which is quite important for anyone looking to feel the happy tingle of intoxication.

     A shining bright spot in the assessment of Bacardi Select is its ability to bring that happy tingle.  In Select’s case, it’s more like a blissful numbness.  This rum excels in the intoxication department, even for an 80-proof liquor.  The drunk it gave me was very sloppy, and slurred speech was prevalent.  The effects of this spirit were very similar to what I have come to expect from tequila.  For all you kiddies out there, I wouldn’t recommend bringing this stuff to a frat party unless you feel like cleaning blood, broken sandals, and ripped pink polos up the next morning.

     You definitely wouldn’t be happy helping with the cleanup efforts the next day if you partook in drinking a resonable amount of Bacardi Select with the soon-to-be-violent fraternity boys.  The hangover for me was a total killer.  My head felt as if it were being pounded with a massive sledgehammer.  My mouth and throat were both so dry that it almost hurt, and the nausea had me fearing that I would soon be praying to a porcelain alter for most of the next day.  This rum is a weekend beverage, plain and simple.  Although Bacardi Select was an overall disappointment, the high drunkability factor and the consumable mixed taste might make it appealing to some drinkers.  If you are craving some rum and a hardcore buzz, you may want to try Bacardi Select; just don’t say I didn’t warn you about the death that is sure to follow.  

Sipability - 5.5

Mixability - 6.5

Drunkability - 8.0

Hangover-ability - 3.0

Bang for the Buck - 7.0

Overall - 6.0 

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