Bayou Mardi Gras XO

This Louisiana rum from Bayou is a molasses rum. The sugarcane has grown in the soils around the Mississippi River Delta. After fermentation it’s distilled in a copper pot still whereafter it’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in ex-sherry barrels for a total aging of up to 6 years using the Solera method.
The nose is fruity and woody with hints of tobacco.
At the palate it’s complex with hints of tobacco, prune, honey and oak
The finish is dry and medium long with notes of honey, black pepper and Sherry.
Overall an OK rum, but quite overpriced.
Picture: The bottle and our poured glasses at the Stockholm Beer & Spirits Fair 2023.

I like Bayou rum and this rum is good too. Smooth and definitely get the wood kick from the bourbon barrels. Apropos for a rum from Louisiana. The problem becomes that its too pricey for a everyday rum and it lacks enough character to be pricey. I understand that you have to pay a bit extra for US quality of life, but knock $20 off this bottle and its an eight.

Colour is beautiful, I knew I’d love it before I even opened it, but was surprised at how smooth it is neat. Yum!

Being from Louisiana, this rum really captured a familiar local flavor. I enjoy this rum and may be biased due to being reminded of Steen’s sugar cane syrup. I can’t help but smell and taste that connection and I love it. This rum has a beautiful color and is very smooth.

⭐️Bayou Rum XO - Mardi Gras⭐️ Origin: United States 🇺🇸
Year: 2019
Style: Single Estate/Pot still/Molasses & Raw Sugar
Price: 80€
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Already being a fan of the Bayou White expression, I am happy to report on this special bottling from Louisiana Spirits LLC in Lacassine.
Bayou Rum is made with a proprietary blend of molasses and raw sugar, completely grown and processed on the estate.
This celebration of Louisiana culture and especially Mardi Gras is a blend of single batch pot stilled rums aged for a max of 6 years in charred bourbon barrels using a solera method, and partially finished on sherry casks.
The combined efforts of master distiller Jeffrey Murphy & master blender Reiniel Vicente Diaz earned this bottling a gold medal at the World Spirits Competition in San Francisco, 2019. It’s a rich, complex and treacly masterpiece best enjoyed neat, perhaps pared with a nice cigar.
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Nose: Fresh sawdust, Tobacco, Fruit preserves, Oak.
8/10
Taste: Candied ginger, Honey, Stone-fruit, Vanilla.
8.5/10
Finish: Long and slightly sweet finish that grows oaken and spicier over time.
9/10
Overall: A masterpiece in the mid-premium segment. Multilayered and complex. Don’t mix and don’t chill!
⭐️8.5⭐️

My wife bought it for me for x-mas. She got in on sale for $70. It is one of the best rums I have tasted. Not too sugary and very sippable. First Bayou Rum I have tasted. Looking forward to finishing it and trying a different one. Put it up there with the Kirk and Sweeney 23, which is my favorite.

The single barrel reserve is much much better for sipping.

Better than expected ( based on the bayou select) nice dark color, subtile cherry wood, easy finish

This is my first US made rum and I can say it is very convincing. Nice smell, smooth taste.
When I read the older comments I was quite surprised seeing the price 80 USD/EUR. In Germany I got it for 40 EUR. Does inflation cause deflation in rum prices?

My first American rum and overall not that impressed.

I get a smokey woody taste with a sharp burn and a short tall.

No real flavour profile.

XO is my go to rum style, so couldn't work out why I didn't enjoy this, then I read it's a Solera method to it, which is a style of rum I don't really enjoy... yet.

You can drink this neat or on ice for a while, then the lack of profile becomes too much.