There are a lot of misconceptions in the world of spirits. Whether it is about how something is produced, embellished history or that big brands are the flagship representation of an entire category. The biggest is probably that there are spirits that are meant for mixing and that there are spirits meant for sipping. THIS. IS. NONSENSE. There are two types of spirits on the market: good and bad. If you use a poor-quality spirit in a cocktail, you will have a poor cocktail. If you use a good quality spirit and ingredients, you will end up with something flavorful, rounded, and elegant.
The Rum-Bar line from Worthy Park Estate in St. Catherine, Jamaica is a line of good rum for good cocktails. The one in particular that really stands out is their unaged white overproof. A blend of three different unaged rums ranging in different levels of congeners and esters to create a big, bold, balanced overproof. All 3 rums in the blend are distilled at Worthy Park on their 100% copper double retort Forsyth’s pot still. And per Rum-Bar/Worthy Park’s website: In accordance with the CARICOM Rum Standard, Jamaican Excise Act, and Jamaica Rum GI, no additives are used in the blending of this rum.
APPEARANCE
This is about as crystal clear as crystal gets if you didn’t know any better, you might mistake this for water in the glass. I know I did once. The bottle itself is quite unassuming but the Jamaica green and yellow allows it to pop out against the other bottles on the shelf.
AROMA
You would think with this being an overproof pot still rum that the alcohol would harshly attack you. However, the alcohol on this is quite soft with a nice warmth to it. The warmth of the alcohol vapors elevates this wonderful whipped vanilla crème the greets the senses first. Next comes those pungent overripe banana notes that we all know and love in good rum. Macerated pineapple and raw sugar come forward before the fresh, crisp sweetness of honey crisp apples rounds out the aroma.
PALATE
The palate is quite bracing with a lot of bite. There is not too much in the way of complexity, but the flavors you do get, do not pull any punches. The fermenting fruit flavors are forward and dominating. Once the palate acclimates to the bruising flavors, softer vegetal flavors claw their way through.
BODY
This can be described in a couple of different ways; so let’s give this a medium +. The heavy pot still brings a hefty oily feeling when it first touches the lips. However, there is this slightly lighter, creamy texture that clings to the mouthfeel.
FINISH
This is vaguely specific, but think slightly sour pineapple candy. Like the kind of sour that those War Heads had once you sucked that really sour powder off the candy. Those vegetal notes become more specific-specific with this super unique leathery edamame husks and sweet star anise.
OVERALL
For roughly $30 for a 1 liter, there is zero for this bottle not to be sitting on everyone’s shelf or and every back bar around the world right now. My favorite application for this rum is in a wonderfully hedonistic banana daiquiri using Giffard’s Banane du Brésil. But this is really fun to just (responsibly) drink on its own. Maybe throw in a small ice cube if need be, but this after a long day with a Fentiman’s Ginger Beer sidecar is just really divine.
