Not bad at all. My sailing buddies and I use the Diplomatico Exclusiva as our sipper benchmark. The Diplomatico seems to have a spicier (as in cinnamon) finish and is a tad sweeter with perhaps a bit more depth. But this one is a smooth sipper with a hint of vanilla.

I gave this one a chance today after reading all of the fine print on the back label in the store. It is macerated with dark chocolate from the nearby Lydgate Farms on Kauai. Since I love me some chocolate and this is the only way to cover up for their awful white and dark rums, this works for me. Being twice distilled probably also helped. It is also bottled at 80 proof and I would venture to say that the added sugar is very little, if any at all. Why mess up one of the best chocolates in the world! Other rum lovers may find this one to have too much chocolate. As you can tell, I REALLY don't like their basic rums.

9:On the nose, the first impression we get is the classical Bajan spectre, with all coconut, butterscotch, dried fruits, bourbon touch, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, toasted wood... All very tempting 😋. Going into more roasted/medicinal waters with roasted nuts, baking spices, some pastry, milk chocolate, port and nail polish, nicely balanced. Aeration gives us, strangely, glue note, then goes in the territory of vegetal notes with fennel and celery with some flowery touch, becoming more dry with peanut note after a nice rest🙂.
8,5:On the palate, the attack is strong, first a bit unbalanced as it is astrigent, salty, spicy. When the tornado calms down, we get butterscotch, roasted nuts, chocolate, coconut, dried fruits, vanilla, the wood is very toasted, it quickly becomes dry and a bit bitter. Out of a nowhere it is citrusy with bourbon touch and becoming more and more roasted with some metallic note and after a while the wood is a bit charred. Well, expected more....
8,5:The finish is full of toasted wood, dry, with some dried fruits, caramel, burnt sugar, here we also get some charred wood after.

Nice tasting run, nothing out of the ordinary to make me remember it above others, apart from the volcano aging claim and a nice bottle. Quite happy to have another glass

Caramel and ethanol aroma; vanilla and caramel in start, pepper and honey with wooden finish of the body; lasting heatin tail.

Vanilla, oak, orange and egg nog in aroma; vanilla, caramel, berries, pepper and smoky end of the body; lasting mild tail.

Nose: I can just smell that sweet oak barrel with a hint of figs.

Taste: I like how this rum is on the edge of the alcohol taste but it isn't. Tasteful because of the oak barrel.

After taste: it burns a little but nothing that is bothering.

Conclusion: this is a great edition to my rum collection, a surprisingly good rum that aged well for 5 years and it is great value for price. I would recommend this one for the whisky drinkers for sure!

Again, big fan of the Oliver & Oliver distillery.

Nose: I get vanilla and alcohol.

Taste: very little vanilla, you taste it and disappears immediately and becomes neutral.

After taste: no burn! I did not expect that based on the color (I was embarrassing gasoline but not)

Conclusion: this is a interesting rum, it has little flavor to the palet for me but no burn. Because it really doesn't do much it is not what I expect from a spiced rum.

Our go-to rum for sipping. Good price point, some sweetness but not too much for our palate.

Classic Plantation bottle, very nice. Strong alcohol scent after opening. What did I expect, it is 69%. However, the taste is really smooth for such a strong spirit. It surprised me.
It is little bit sweet on the nose but alcohol covers it mostly. Taste is really good, sugar cane, oak and the surprise No. 2, it is very similar to Myers's Original Dark. Like Myers's stronger older brother. Really good sipper. Must be good in mixed drinks too, but I'd prefer it neat. Excellent. Of course, there are more sophisticated rums but this one is the rum.

7,8:On the nose it is soft and round, Jamaica is first to be noticed-banana, with some esters, is velvety, then some Spanish style with brown sugar, caramel, sugar cane, candied fruit, molasses and ginger with a roasted notes, smokiness.
7,6:On the palate, the attack is spicy with cloves, there is fresh sugar cane juice, delicious ripe exotic fruits, caramel and herbal(minty) notes, later a bit roasted with nicely baked pastry .
7,3:The finish is spicy and fresh, grassy, meaty/umami, woody with cinnamon, rancio and caramel-gingerbread with a hint of a charcoal.

Nagyon rendben van a rum, nagyon ajánlom mindenkinek!!!

Man, just got this one in today and it's really good. I tried it straight, over ice, and in a Navy Grog and it's shines in a Grog.

A pretty good silver. A little bit of burn but still somewhat smooth. Can taste just a hint of funk in it. Might update my rating after trying it in a mojito.

Sharp nutty syrup on the nose. Tastes woody and spicy before moderated by sweetness. A bit of floral background. A bold sipper, but probably a bit pricey to hide in a complex cocktail.

The dark series is a bit smoother then the anejo but it is still a good overall rum even for sipping.

What a nice discovery. Thick passion fruit purée, strong rum taste … perfect match. Well balanced.

The spiciness of the appleton taste is a bit overwhelming. Not very delicate.

Nice Appleton signature taste, not too overwhelming. Smoother then the signature.

A heavy one. Needs a few ice cubes or a lot of mix. Not enjoyable straight.

Nice overall. Not too strong not too sweet. Good everyday rum.

Ok for mixing. You taste the alcohol. It sells 1L for 15usd in DR duty free shops. If you are having a party its a good deal.

Delicate vanilla and coconut aroma. Perfectly balanced taste. Mild and smooth despite 43%

I’m on the fence with this, it’s a really easy to sip rum, will probably be very good in a coffee themed cocktail too. Caramel really comes through, but too heavy on coffee for my taste. Not a bad mark on the rum, just not for me

Has a distinct flavor that can be used well in certain cocktails, but it hasn't really impressed me. Didn't like it in a Mai Tai blend at all.

Not bad at all. My sailing buddies and I use the Diplomatico Exclusiva as our sipper benchmark. The Diplomatico seems to have a spicier (as in cinnamon) finish and is a tad sweeter with perhaps a bit more depth. But this one is a smooth sipper with a hint of vanilla.

I gave this one a chance today after reading all of the fine print on the back label in the store. It is macerated with dark chocolate from the nearby Lydgate Farms on Kauai. Since I love me some chocolate and this is the only way to cover up for their awful white and dark rums, this works for me. Being twice distilled probably also helped. It is also bottled at 80 proof and I would venture to say that the added sugar is very little, if any at all. Why mess up one of the best chocolates in the world! Other rum lovers may find this one to have too much chocolate. As you can tell, I REALLY don't like their basic rums.

9:On the nose, the first impression we get is the classical Bajan spectre, with all coconut, butterscotch, dried fruits, bourbon touch, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, toasted wood... All very tempting 😋. Going into more roasted/medicinal waters with roasted nuts, baking spices, some pastry, milk chocolate, port and nail polish, nicely balanced. Aeration gives us, strangely, glue note, then goes in the territory of vegetal notes with fennel and celery with some flowery touch, becoming more dry with peanut note after a nice rest🙂.
8,5:On the palate, the attack is strong, first a bit unbalanced as it is astrigent, salty, spicy. When the tornado calms down, we get butterscotch, roasted nuts, chocolate, coconut, dried fruits, vanilla, the wood is very toasted, it quickly becomes dry and a bit bitter. Out of a nowhere it is citrusy with bourbon touch and becoming more and more roasted with some metallic note and after a while the wood is a bit charred. Well, expected more....
8,5:The finish is full of toasted wood, dry, with some dried fruits, caramel, burnt sugar, here we also get some charred wood after.

Nice tasting run, nothing out of the ordinary to make me remember it above others, apart from the volcano aging claim and a nice bottle. Quite happy to have another glass

Caramel and ethanol aroma; vanilla and caramel in start, pepper and honey with wooden finish of the body; lasting heatin tail.

Vanilla, oak, orange and egg nog in aroma; vanilla, caramel, berries, pepper and smoky end of the body; lasting mild tail.

Nose: I can just smell that sweet oak barrel with a hint of figs.

Taste: I like how this rum is on the edge of the alcohol taste but it isn't. Tasteful because of the oak barrel.

After taste: it burns a little but nothing that is bothering.

Conclusion: this is a great edition to my rum collection, a surprisingly good rum that aged well for 5 years and it is great value for price. I would recommend this one for the whisky drinkers for sure!

Again, big fan of the Oliver & Oliver distillery.

Nose: I get vanilla and alcohol.

Taste: very little vanilla, you taste it and disappears immediately and becomes neutral.

After taste: no burn! I did not expect that based on the color (I was embarrassing gasoline but not)

Conclusion: this is a interesting rum, it has little flavor to the palet for me but no burn. Because it really doesn't do much it is not what I expect from a spiced rum.

Our go-to rum for sipping. Good price point, some sweetness but not too much for our palate.

Classic Plantation bottle, very nice. Strong alcohol scent after opening. What did I expect, it is 69%. However, the taste is really smooth for such a strong spirit. It surprised me.
It is little bit sweet on the nose but alcohol covers it mostly. Taste is really good, sugar cane, oak and the surprise No. 2, it is very similar to Myers's Original Dark. Like Myers's stronger older brother. Really good sipper. Must be good in mixed drinks too, but I'd prefer it neat. Excellent. Of course, there are more sophisticated rums but this one is the rum.

7,8:On the nose it is soft and round, Jamaica is first to be noticed-banana, with some esters, is velvety, then some Spanish style with brown sugar, caramel, sugar cane, candied fruit, molasses and ginger with a roasted notes, smokiness.
7,6:On the palate, the attack is spicy with cloves, there is fresh sugar cane juice, delicious ripe exotic fruits, caramel and herbal(minty) notes, later a bit roasted with nicely baked pastry .
7,3:The finish is spicy and fresh, grassy, meaty/umami, woody with cinnamon, rancio and caramel-gingerbread with a hint of a charcoal.

Nagyon rendben van a rum, nagyon ajánlom mindenkinek!!!

Man, just got this one in today and it's really good. I tried it straight, over ice, and in a Navy Grog and it's shines in a Grog.

A pretty good silver. A little bit of burn but still somewhat smooth. Can taste just a hint of funk in it. Might update my rating after trying it in a mojito.

Sharp nutty syrup on the nose. Tastes woody and spicy before moderated by sweetness. A bit of floral background. A bold sipper, but probably a bit pricey to hide in a complex cocktail.

The dark series is a bit smoother then the anejo but it is still a good overall rum even for sipping.

What a nice discovery. Thick passion fruit purée, strong rum taste … perfect match. Well balanced.

The spiciness of the appleton taste is a bit overwhelming. Not very delicate.

Nice Appleton signature taste, not too overwhelming. Smoother then the signature.

A heavy one. Needs a few ice cubes or a lot of mix. Not enjoyable straight.

Nice overall. Not too strong not too sweet. Good everyday rum.

Ok for mixing. You taste the alcohol. It sells 1L for 15usd in DR duty free shops. If you are having a party its a good deal.

Delicate vanilla and coconut aroma. Perfectly balanced taste. Mild and smooth despite 43%

I’m on the fence with this, it’s a really easy to sip rum, will probably be very good in a coffee themed cocktail too. Caramel really comes through, but too heavy on coffee for my taste. Not a bad mark on the rum, just not for me

Has a distinct flavor that can be used well in certain cocktails, but it hasn't really impressed me. Didn't like it in a Mai Tai blend at all.