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 

Like it? Let others know:

     I have an affinity for liquor with some real flavor.  I expect the stuff I sip on the rocks to have enough complexity and body that mixers are not needed to enhance my enjoyment.  With this in mind, I had high hopes for Myers’s Original Dark Rum. 

     Myer’s Rum is produced in Jamaica using a continuous pot still distillation method, a process that creates a full-bodied and more flavorful rum.  This is the traditional method of rum production and the way Myers’s Rum has been produced since 1879.  As a dark rum, a portion of the molasses used in the initial production is retained in the final product.  This final product is aged in white oak barrels for 4 years.  The end result is one of the darkest rums I have ever experienced and also one of the more unique.

     I’ll admit, I was as giddy as a schoolgirl about trying this rum because of that entrancing dark color and the almost cult-like adoration of this rum.  Before the BoozeBasher staff could gather, I couldn’t resist cracking open the bottle just to get a whiff of its contents.  The initial sniff was a mix of strong smokey and tobacco aromas.  A few more sniffs and I was detecting  a sharp metallic odor, the first indication that Myers’s would not live up to my expectations. 

     When tasting it on the rocks, the initial flavor was actually pretty bland.  When the flavor did show up, it was an amazing molasses buttery taste that warmed me up nicely.  If Myers’s could reduce their rum to just that buttery flavor and bottle it, I would be stocking up by the case.  Unfortunately, that wonderful taste was fleeting on the palate and quickly faded into a sharp, dry, metallic finish that was downright unpleasant. 

     I had originally though that Myers’s would make for a optimal mixer in tropical fruity drinks best enjoyed in a hammock on a sandy beach.  We whipped up a cocktail consisting of fruit juices and rum that, unfortunately, looked like sewage water and honestly did not taste much better.  Either I was wrong about my original idea, or we are failures at inventing tropical fruity drinks.  After that debacle, we decided to go with the keep-it-simple-stupid method and tried again with some cola.  Myers’s Rum is not bad when consumed in this fashion.  It added an almost exotic flavor to the cola and the undesirable finish is cut to a resonable level.  Sadly, the best asset of this rum, that buttery flavor, was annihilated in this mixture.  I still think that Myers rum would be nicely complimented by some tropical and Caribbean flavors, possibly a Planter’s Punch, as it seems to be the most popular use of this rum.

     The dissatisfaction with the rum continued when I got around to having a few drinks.  I seem to be completely immune to the alcohol in this bottle of rum.  The bottle claims 80-proof.  I don’t want to call the producers of Myers’s Rum liars, but after a number of drinks, I was stone sober.  I am not even the alcoholic on the BoozeBasher staff; Wade has that position on lock-down.  The good news is that where there is no drunk, there is no hangover.  I had a little cotton mouth the next day, but nothing a glass of water could not fix.

     I was pretty disappointed by Myers’s Rum, possibly because my expectations were so high that I was guaranteeing myself a letdown.  I think it could be spectacular in the right drink, and since I have not given up on it yet, let us know if you have any good recipes.  If you are looking for something a little different, Myers’s Rum is only about $23 a bottle.  I doubt it will get you drunk, but you might find that you are a fan of it’s unique flavor. 

Sipability - 5.5

Mixability - 5.5

Drunkability - 3.0

Hangover-ability - 7.5

Bang for the Buck - 5.5

Overall - 5.5 

Like it? Let others know:

     Yaaarrggg!  Ahoy maties, I be a captain on a swashbuckler ship.  When ye be wanting to learn about rum ye best be talking to a pirate.  Avast if ye be forgetting that us pirates know rum like we know booty plundering.  When I plan to be out pirating around in me ship, I always make sure I load up on Captain Morgan Private Stock when I be in port.  Well, I make me crew do all the loading of me ship on account I be spending me time with the wenches, plundering.  Yaaarrggg!

     Captain Morgan Private Stock was launched in 1996 and be produced by the Diageo company in Puerto Rico under the name of The Captain Morgan Rum Company.  The distillers know what they be doing as they be making rum since 1944.  They be starting out with some sugar cane molasses, water, mash and yeast.  Once this be distilled, the rum goes into an oak barrel fer aging.  After the rum be aged, a secret mix of island spices be blended in to produce me favorite spiced rum.  As soon as ye uncork the bottle ye can enjoy a strong aroma dominated by vanilla but with an underlying hint of molasses.  It be the best aroma to be found on a swashbuckler ship, but that nay be saying much.  Yaaarrgg!

     I like wenches, but nay as much as I be liking rum.  Drinking me rum always be making the wenches look better.  Yaaarrggg!  Avast if ye be thinking that the only reason to drink Private Stock be to make the wenches look good.  This be one of the best sipping rums to be found, and ye best not be sipping on me stash or it will be a walking of the plank fer ye.  If ye be drinking it straight, then ye be experiencing flavors of mostly sweet molasses with a hint of vanilla and spice.  The strong vanilla aroma not be carrying over to an overpowering vanilla taste.  The overall flavor be smooth and mellow and ye only be getting a slight hint of the alcohol burn.  Ye best be careful not to get carried away by the ease Private Stock be going down.  Aye, she be packing an 80-proof punch, and she be making you wobble when you walk if you have more than a few.  Yaaarrggg!  She nay be so strong that ye be tipping over loaded to the gunwales, though.  If ye be setting sail early the next morning, this rum be a good choice as she will take it easy on ye the morning after a long night of drinking.

     Captain Morgan Private Stock be making fer a good mixing rum if ye want to add it to cola.  It also be making a fantastic egg nog fer me swashbuckler party fer me friends and wenches.  However, if ye really want to be getting the most out of ye Private Stock, I suggest just drinking it straight as everything just dilutes the already delicious flavors.

     Captain Morgan Private Stock be a staple on my swashbuckler ship, fer meself of course.  I make me crew drink RonRico on account they nay be worth the $26 a fifth this rum be costing.  Aye, she be great fer mixing and she be even better on the rocks.  So the next time ye be in port visiting the wenches, pick ye up a bottle before ye go back to pirating.  Yaaarrggg! 

Sipability - 8.5

Mixability - 8.5

Drunkability - 6.5

Hangover-ability - 7.5

Bang fer ye Buck - 6.5

Wench-appeal - 8.5

Overall - 8.0

Like it? Let others know: