Really satisfying level of sweetness. Not syropy like some sweet rums but sweet and super smooth. Really easy to sip over ice. Good value for money too imo

Stunning bottle to start with and when you open it, it has a great mix of smells. As someone who drinks mainly Spanish Latin American/Caribbean rums, this has a noticeably different style. Much less sweet and more complex mix of flavours. Is great over ice and now one of my favourites. Need to try more navy style rums it seems.

Also love the history behind the black tot

Can smell the chilli when you open the bottle, almost a bit of smoked paprika. Nice smooth rum, get a little kick of spice at the back, really nice bottle as well. Not overly flavoured

Kraken is definitely one of my favourite rums, it is smooth and easygoing, definitely something I would recommend to my friends. Only issue I may have is that it is kinda pricey for a rum. (For Reference: $75-$85 for a 700ml bottle in Australia 2024)

Is a unique tasting rum that has a sort of candy taste to it's spices, doesn't linger so if it's not to your liking, you won't have to taste it constantly. Overall decent however will come down to personal taste.

Haven’t tried sipping it, but it’d probably be okay; went straight for the sailor’s drink, with ginger beer — was delicious!

Pretty sweet, but that's what I like. All the quality and minimal hurn

You can't go wrong with this. It's not the best, but very serviceable. I always come back to it for mixing with other lighter rums

I love the flavors. So sweet, vanilla and mellow...

Comparable to goslings, but not quite even that good

Just another spiced rum that’s way too heavy on vanilla. Can’t even taste the supposed nutmeg or cinnamon. I love Bacardi, but you can forget this one.

I have this bottle on my shelf because I wanted to try Appleton Estate, immediately I was smacked with a strong metallic taste to it. I confess this may be very subjective because others say they greatly enjoy this rum, but I am having a hard time getting past the metallic taste. If it didn't have that, I bet it would be delicious to my taste palette.

This is a good rum, not fantastic, not bad at all. It's very easy to drink and has a good flavor, good alcohol burn, and good after taste. It's good, not great.

I tried this rum at the beginning of my rum exploration phase, and it's far too sweet for my preferences. The banana flavor is so strong it's almost like a banana flavored laffy taffy candy. It isn't repulsive, but it's certainly not something I would actively pursue.

This is a great rum that has a super deep flavor. It's maybe 15% sweeter than my liking, but not so much that I would turn it down. There's lots of fruit, toffee, and banana flavors that my taste pallet detects and it's a good dessert rum. It's almost perfect if I never tried Frigate Reserve!

My wife turned me on to this rum, and I'm super happy she did. The scent is not too sweet, and the taste is a perfect balance of sweetness and bite. I'm only just beginning to learn about rums but this is my favorite so far.

Solventy on the nose (petrol and paint thinner) with clear vanilla, bread crums, tropical fruits like guava, papaya and pineapple, some more sour notes (lime) as well. Sweet and fruity on the palate, more vanilla, icing sugar, guava, papaya, grapefruit, a hint of honey, some bitter oak influency, quite spicy in the mouth, also with the addition of water.
Medium finish: sweet vanilla, icing sugar, bitter lemon, grapefruit solvents, like paint thinner and finger paint. Bitter herbs and wood spices at the tail end.

It's close to a 9/10 rating for the nose and initial taste. Development and finish have quite some woodsappy bitterness to it, making it slightly less appealing to me. Overall 8/10.

7,5:On the nose, we are attacked with wild herbs, like Ricola candies, some mint, dark chocolate, some caramelized roasted nuts, coffee and wood, resin with dried currants, fruit compote and dried fruits. Aeration brings out some tobacco, licorice is still strong, underneath weak tropical fruits try to make some mark, but after some real rest, herbs go weaker, rum becomes more roasted, medicinal, perhaps even floral and woody.
7,5:On the palate, we have wild herbs mixed with chocolate, cocoa, licorice candy, resin, mint, bitter orange, some wood and peppery, juniper, dried currants, hints of dried fruits and metallic note, leather.
7,6:The finish is dry, fresh, minty, spicy, quite long with some caramel, roasted notes, cocoa and coffee.

Very pleasant to drink
Very easy drinking for a nice sunny day no burn
2 saint James I have had both been good but the xo is worth the extra money but this is good value

Yes. Seven for a spiced rum! This is smooth, intriguing and complex. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, maybe? Only Richard Seale knows I suppose. Forget everything you know about spiced rum if you’ve been shopping at BWS and Liquorland this is nothing like the dreaded captains cough syrup. I can’t wait to mix this with everything!

Very nice, unique flavor profile. You can tell that this isn't a passion fruit flavored rum with artificial flavors added, but it's also not a sweet liqueur either. Don't expect either of those things. It's a unique rum, that tastes like rum, with passion fruit infused, more in the style of something like Stiggins Pineapple, though not quite as good. I really like this rum a lot. A little grassy, with plenty of light tropical fruit notes. There are also notes of woodiness, which is unexpected, but not overpowering. No harsh or bitter notes. A really interesting and unique bottle. I will definitely be enjoying this neat or in a daiquiri.

Fantastic addition to the Planteray lineup. Very reminiscent of Plantation OFTD. More complex than the OFTD, which probably comes from the addition of the Trinidad rum, but not as well balanced. Notes of burnt sugar, light funkiness, and leather. The only downside for me is the slight bitter finish, which knocks it down just a bit. It also probably won't endear itself with some people because, unlike OFTD, it does have a very small amount of added sugar, but it's an unnoticeable amount. Sippable despite the light bitterness on the finish, but I'm even more excited to mix with this. If OFTD is a 9 for me, this is a solid 8.5.

Notes of caramelized sugar, vanilla, and dried fruits like raisins and figs. There's also a subtle hint of cocoa and toasted oak. The finish is long and lingering. It leaves a lasting impression of sweet oak with a touch of spice.

Wow, I found a single bottle at end of the bin and couldn't resist. Awesome rum. Definitely has a complex flavor. The Jamaican hogo is present, but there is a completely different fruity profile on the back from the cask finish. Excellent flavor profile. Unfortunately I can't give it higher than a 7. For this price point and age, I would have expected this to be much smoother. It has a really harsh finish for a 12.5 year old rum. I've had rums that are higher proof and much smoother, but man it's still really nice. Maybe given some time it'll mellow out a bit and I will revisit this review, but for now it's a very solid 7.5. I'm starting to learn that the low end of Plantation/Planteray rums are incredible deals (OFTD, Barbados 5, Fiji, Stiggins, Mister Fogg), but these higher end single cask rums just aren't quite there in value. The 2015 El Salvador is the only one I've rated as an 8, the rest have all be 6's and 7's.

Very nicely balanced, fruity with notes of leather. Kind of halfway between a Jamaican and a Cuban Havana Club rum. Really nice. This makes me want to explore more rums from Trinidad. Not a sipper, definitely has some bite, but great flavor profile and really nice mixer.

Really satisfying level of sweetness. Not syropy like some sweet rums but sweet and super smooth. Really easy to sip over ice. Good value for money too imo

Stunning bottle to start with and when you open it, it has a great mix of smells. As someone who drinks mainly Spanish Latin American/Caribbean rums, this has a noticeably different style. Much less sweet and more complex mix of flavours. Is great over ice and now one of my favourites. Need to try more navy style rums it seems.

Also love the history behind the black tot

Can smell the chilli when you open the bottle, almost a bit of smoked paprika. Nice smooth rum, get a little kick of spice at the back, really nice bottle as well. Not overly flavoured

Kraken is definitely one of my favourite rums, it is smooth and easygoing, definitely something I would recommend to my friends. Only issue I may have is that it is kinda pricey for a rum. (For Reference: $75-$85 for a 700ml bottle in Australia 2024)

Is a unique tasting rum that has a sort of candy taste to it's spices, doesn't linger so if it's not to your liking, you won't have to taste it constantly. Overall decent however will come down to personal taste.

Haven’t tried sipping it, but it’d probably be okay; went straight for the sailor’s drink, with ginger beer — was delicious!

Pretty sweet, but that's what I like. All the quality and minimal hurn

You can't go wrong with this. It's not the best, but very serviceable. I always come back to it for mixing with other lighter rums

I love the flavors. So sweet, vanilla and mellow...

Comparable to goslings, but not quite even that good

Just another spiced rum that’s way too heavy on vanilla. Can’t even taste the supposed nutmeg or cinnamon. I love Bacardi, but you can forget this one.

I have this bottle on my shelf because I wanted to try Appleton Estate, immediately I was smacked with a strong metallic taste to it. I confess this may be very subjective because others say they greatly enjoy this rum, but I am having a hard time getting past the metallic taste. If it didn't have that, I bet it would be delicious to my taste palette.

This is a good rum, not fantastic, not bad at all. It's very easy to drink and has a good flavor, good alcohol burn, and good after taste. It's good, not great.

I tried this rum at the beginning of my rum exploration phase, and it's far too sweet for my preferences. The banana flavor is so strong it's almost like a banana flavored laffy taffy candy. It isn't repulsive, but it's certainly not something I would actively pursue.

This is a great rum that has a super deep flavor. It's maybe 15% sweeter than my liking, but not so much that I would turn it down. There's lots of fruit, toffee, and banana flavors that my taste pallet detects and it's a good dessert rum. It's almost perfect if I never tried Frigate Reserve!

My wife turned me on to this rum, and I'm super happy she did. The scent is not too sweet, and the taste is a perfect balance of sweetness and bite. I'm only just beginning to learn about rums but this is my favorite so far.

Solventy on the nose (petrol and paint thinner) with clear vanilla, bread crums, tropical fruits like guava, papaya and pineapple, some more sour notes (lime) as well. Sweet and fruity on the palate, more vanilla, icing sugar, guava, papaya, grapefruit, a hint of honey, some bitter oak influency, quite spicy in the mouth, also with the addition of water.
Medium finish: sweet vanilla, icing sugar, bitter lemon, grapefruit solvents, like paint thinner and finger paint. Bitter herbs and wood spices at the tail end.

It's close to a 9/10 rating for the nose and initial taste. Development and finish have quite some woodsappy bitterness to it, making it slightly less appealing to me. Overall 8/10.

7,5:On the nose, we are attacked with wild herbs, like Ricola candies, some mint, dark chocolate, some caramelized roasted nuts, coffee and wood, resin with dried currants, fruit compote and dried fruits. Aeration brings out some tobacco, licorice is still strong, underneath weak tropical fruits try to make some mark, but after some real rest, herbs go weaker, rum becomes more roasted, medicinal, perhaps even floral and woody.
7,5:On the palate, we have wild herbs mixed with chocolate, cocoa, licorice candy, resin, mint, bitter orange, some wood and peppery, juniper, dried currants, hints of dried fruits and metallic note, leather.
7,6:The finish is dry, fresh, minty, spicy, quite long with some caramel, roasted notes, cocoa and coffee.

Very pleasant to drink
Very easy drinking for a nice sunny day no burn
2 saint James I have had both been good but the xo is worth the extra money but this is good value

Yes. Seven for a spiced rum! This is smooth, intriguing and complex. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, maybe? Only Richard Seale knows I suppose. Forget everything you know about spiced rum if you’ve been shopping at BWS and Liquorland this is nothing like the dreaded captains cough syrup. I can’t wait to mix this with everything!

Very nice, unique flavor profile. You can tell that this isn't a passion fruit flavored rum with artificial flavors added, but it's also not a sweet liqueur either. Don't expect either of those things. It's a unique rum, that tastes like rum, with passion fruit infused, more in the style of something like Stiggins Pineapple, though not quite as good. I really like this rum a lot. A little grassy, with plenty of light tropical fruit notes. There are also notes of woodiness, which is unexpected, but not overpowering. No harsh or bitter notes. A really interesting and unique bottle. I will definitely be enjoying this neat or in a daiquiri.

Fantastic addition to the Planteray lineup. Very reminiscent of Plantation OFTD. More complex than the OFTD, which probably comes from the addition of the Trinidad rum, but not as well balanced. Notes of burnt sugar, light funkiness, and leather. The only downside for me is the slight bitter finish, which knocks it down just a bit. It also probably won't endear itself with some people because, unlike OFTD, it does have a very small amount of added sugar, but it's an unnoticeable amount. Sippable despite the light bitterness on the finish, but I'm even more excited to mix with this. If OFTD is a 9 for me, this is a solid 8.5.

Notes of caramelized sugar, vanilla, and dried fruits like raisins and figs. There's also a subtle hint of cocoa and toasted oak. The finish is long and lingering. It leaves a lasting impression of sweet oak with a touch of spice.

Wow, I found a single bottle at end of the bin and couldn't resist. Awesome rum. Definitely has a complex flavor. The Jamaican hogo is present, but there is a completely different fruity profile on the back from the cask finish. Excellent flavor profile. Unfortunately I can't give it higher than a 7. For this price point and age, I would have expected this to be much smoother. It has a really harsh finish for a 12.5 year old rum. I've had rums that are higher proof and much smoother, but man it's still really nice. Maybe given some time it'll mellow out a bit and I will revisit this review, but for now it's a very solid 7.5. I'm starting to learn that the low end of Plantation/Planteray rums are incredible deals (OFTD, Barbados 5, Fiji, Stiggins, Mister Fogg), but these higher end single cask rums just aren't quite there in value. The 2015 El Salvador is the only one I've rated as an 8, the rest have all be 6's and 7's.

Very nicely balanced, fruity with notes of leather. Kind of halfway between a Jamaican and a Cuban Havana Club rum. Really nice. This makes me want to explore more rums from Trinidad. Not a sipper, definitely has some bite, but great flavor profile and really nice mixer.