Pyrat XO Reserve

Lovely smooth rum with hints of orange. Good for variety of cocktails like rum & cola, pina colada and just over ice or soda.

Aroma: 4/10
Taste: 6/10
End: 5/10
It’s not that expensive, but I find better rums for that price.

Years ago Pyrat XO was a fantastic rum (I would have given it an 8) made in Anguilla. It had some orange flavor but was complex and delicious.

In comes Patron and ruins a wonderful brand or maybe their stock of good stuff ran out?
The current offerings you can find in stores are made somewhere else and are cloying sweet with wayyyy too much orange flavor which overpowers the rest of what could be a decent rum, maybe…

It is similar to Bumbu original for me. No thanks. I’ll spend my $ on something far better at this price point.

I went into this rum a bit afraid due to seeing other reviews label it similar to paint thinner.

Purchased a bottle and tried it on the rocks and I thought it was a perfectly fine rum to sip. Typically I enjoy rums on the sweeter side and the notes are pleasant to my specific pallet.

Me and the boys enjoyed sipping on this while playing some games of Magic the Gathering. Commander is always more fun when slightly intoxicated.

I get it that we all have different palates, but the only reason I can think that someone might give this a higher rating is if they haven't tried many rums at all. I mean even Bacardi 8 Year is head and shoulders better than this, and it's still pretty far from the top of my list. I'd even rate stalwarts like Gosling's above this. Nothing to add that others haven't already - it's rough, it has a weird orange-y flavor, the most noticeable flavor other than orange is alcohol. Cannot recommend.

6,5:On the nose, citrus aromas (orange and lemon) dominate. It also has a vegetal, even medicinal/herbal aspect. Slight notes of spice-ginger, vanilla are also present.
6:On the palate, it's sweet and the orange carries off - almost - everything in its path. A slight acidity and bitterness make you think of zest. The timid spicy:ginger, vanilla notes are still there.Underneath there is a very weak torrent of tropical fruits, rarely traceable. After few more sipps this rum becomes more and more bitter orange.
6:The finish is short and citrusy.

That's right!
It is not bad at all. This is another flavored liquor, not a pure rum. Everything is about orange and it makes sense. Moderately saturate color of liquor goes to orange tone and it perfectly tunes with the taste. Significant orange peels in the taste, but quality strong spirit on the background which is similar with some good white rums. Not so sweet orange taste is really dominant. That is why it leads me to compare it to Grand Marnier. I like both.
Packaging. Orange cardboard box is not high quality. The bottle with rustic cork is made of too thick glass with some sort of silver sprinkles inside of the glass and it is really not handy. It is hard to pour via this really thick bottleneck without some spill. Besides there is the orange ribbon, the card and the bronze medallion, which I like the most by the way, so it looks like Christmas tree. Too tacky?..not at all for orange liquor.

First time I tasted I found the orange taste too much and not a particularly good rum. Recently bought another bottle and although not a favourite of mine it is still and interesting but somewhat strange rum.

A distinct artificial aroma of some sort that made me hate it at first but got used to it after a while

I like this rum, but don't really drink it that often. It's unlike any other rum in my bar, which makes it special and brings a distinct taste to cocktails when added to heighten a citrus note. Sipped alone it's rich, smooth and interesting but not in my opinion the best way to enjoy it.