Blackwell Black Gold Special Reserve

When a recipe calls for a dark rum, I first reach for Hamilton Pot-Still Jamaican. My next choice would be to reach for this one. I'll take this over Gosling's or Myers any day. It does a much better job as a mixer, and overall has a much more pronounced flavor than your average dark rum. Only $20, and fantastic most ways you mix it (ginger beer is my favorite).

This is a serious Jamaican style rum, distilled by Wray and Nephew - to which family it turns out Chris Blackwell is related.

Not sweet at all, plenty of funk and esters. Not aged enough to be a particularly great sipper but outstanding in mixed drinks.

Tried this one at Blackwell`s Rum and Reggae party in New Orleans 2 years ago and i find it to be a very good mixing rum, makes great rum punches and dark n stormy`s, also good in tiki drinks. Not so much a sipper to me though even if it can sip of course.But it´s a rum to love!

At first I passed this off as another celebrity-endorsed liquor, not knowing much about Chris Blackwell. But reading more about him and his heritage, I gave it a chance. And I’m pretty impressed! It’s a solid black pot rum. Decent neat, and made for a real nice Dark-n-Stormy.

I went to a very well stocked rum bar this afternoon. This was one of three that I tried and they were out of the other three on my list. This was the darkest and tastiest of all three. The WOW factor for me was quite high. In a close second place was Appleton 21 Year. In a distant third place was St. Nicholas Abbey 10 Year, the lightest of the three.

This is a mildly spiced and slightly sweet Jamaican rum. The hogo funk is kept to a bare minimum. I was so impressed with it that I went looking for my own bottle afterwards, all to no avail. Somehow, I eventually found my own bottles.

Update May 7, 2019: Using one's imagination, this one can also be used as a Tiki topper in drinks whereby 2 parts of coconut water are used to save 1 part of white rum rated in one's lower third of their ratings. I would have included a gorgeous picture of this drink, but being so late after the initial review is not allowed. This Tiki topper simply puts any average tasting drink over the top!

Update May 21, 2019: Out of the two dozen rums that wound up in my top ten percent in my ratings, this one stands head and shoulders above all the rest when it comes to value (aka QPR). I make a toast to Mr Chris Blackwell for creating this fine rum that is also very affordable!

Dark chocolate with dried fruits topping. Cola caramel yet bitter towards to end. Doesn't carry any hogo/ funky characteristic of classic Jamaican rum. Lots of spices and fruity.

First sip reminds me of rich fruit cake with caramel topping and coco powder. It sounds like a weird flavour but doesn't taste bad either. Personally I find it very much close to a spiced rum especially its only been through a year aging.

Woody and toffee finishing, very much of an espresso. This gives a long finishing compare to certain aged rum.

This rum sells for only $16.99 (Total Wines & More) and at that price it's an amazing bargain. It reminds me a lot of the Appleton Estate rums, but with a little sweetness that makes it even better than the Appleton's to me.

Smells and tastes of honey, spice, molasses, and vanilla. A great rum for the money, and a great rum period!

Now this is more like it. Smells like cherries jubilee in the glass, tastes like molasses and spice, finishes full of fruit and liquorice. Wonderful, a fine example of Jamaican rum akin to Appleton. Perhaps more aging would intensify the funk which, alas, is barely present. Still, it's tasty stuff.

Blackwell... A fairly cozy rum if I may say. Scent of raisin and maybe a little oily alcohol smell. Rich taste for being so young, caramel, dried fruits, vanilla and... oak barrel. Don't know if it's ever been close to a barrel but I taste it. A slight cognac tone also. A pleasant acquaintance I must say.

Sugar: 2 gpl. This is a high end mixing rum and a low end sipping rum. In terms of value to taste this rum is a winner. A bit of sweetness and some heat on first taste but that mellows out quickly and fades to some vanilla, oak, and spice. This is quite smooth once the initial minimal heat fades. It works with just one ice cube, but also quite good straight up. I like my rum a bit sweeter, however for a mixed drink this one would be quite nice.

Not a bad Jamaican rum. Has a nice Jamaican Pot still flavor to it. This rum does include some natural spices with make it feel older but it does lack that oak you get on an older rum and does have some sharper edges to it. Overall a decent rum easy to drink straight up but is slightly spiced.

I don't like sweet rums, but the exception to that rule for me is black rum. I like the flavor of a rum that has a bitter tastes that come from a well made blackstrap rum that is light on the tails tastes like it uses true caramelized molasses rather than caramelized sugar.

Bottle: It is interesting and I guess the price range dictated the style to some degree.
Color: Deep amber, dark red-brown.
Bottle Aroma: Sweet with hints of a spiced rum.
Glass Aroma: Very similar to the bottle, but with oak.
Taste: This rum is never hot but has enough heat to be not dull, it isn't just a black rum, it really has hints of being a spiced rum as well with flavors I would associate with Xmas cookies.

When Blackwell first entered the US market the price versus the taste was unbelievable. It has since gone up a few dollars but remains a very good value. If this was planned, it was an excellent sales and marketing strategy for what is a very solid black rum. I use this rum to mix in all sorts of drinks with the favorite being Dark-n-Stormy where a ginger bitter is used with seltzer water. The lack of a overly sweet ginger beer while relying on the sweetness of Blackwell rum means this is a extremely pleasant evolution on a traditional drink and it becomes very pleasant indoors or in the summer heat.

Has a nice Jamaican Pot still flavor to it. A little harsh to drink straight, but a good mixer when you need a dark Rum.

A smooth Funk like James Brown teaching George Clinton.

In aroma You can find orange bark and cigar. In taste walnuts a smooth taste of cocoa.

N- Alcohol burns, gets over it and comes the molasses, chocolate, damped old wood, buttery with hint of popcorn caramel. (84/18)

P- Medicinal, cardboard-y, sort funky with rustic dried fruit peel. Oak-y and missing any notable filler. (76/16)

F- Short-medium, tart and dry. (76/16)

B/B- 78/16. Acceptable aroma, flat and lifeless on palate.

Weighted Rate- 66pt
— at The Rum Bar KL.

Fine mixer, if you need jamaican, dark or sweeter rum.

I'm not a fan of this rum at all. It has an unpleasant artificial vanilla taste that you wouldn't expect to see in a jamaican rum. It also sucks in cocktails that ask for jamaican rum because it is way too sweet for what is usually required. Even makes a mai tai seem like a bad drink. This to me feels more like an upscale version of captain morgan with a hint of jamaican funk.

Dette er en rom som fint kan drikkes ren med is. eller blandes i drink. lukter melasse går litt over i svak krydder smak på slutten.

Tenhle rum jsem si poridil pred Vanocemi do vaječňáku. Byl vylbornej. Od te doby si tenhle rum kupuju i na vychutnavani. Sussi chut, ostrejsi vune, ale vylozene mi sedne. Tmava cokolada, ovoce, orechy...to vsechno tam jde najit.

As soon as I tasted it, I told the Mrs.... Appleton Estates. I paid $14.99 and for that price, I'd say it's a good value. Cool label. Sipped it over ice, as is my usual custom. Washed it down with a Red Stripe. I think it would be a good mix with some Creole and some roots reggae.

Beautiful bottle design. I experienced this rum as very mild and sweet with nozing flavors of chocolate, coffee and cane. These notes are also present at the palate and short to midsize finish. This rum is a good bargain (at its price) in comparison to many other medium-rated rums.

Not the worst rum I’ve ever tried by any means. Definitely needs to be mixed though. I found it quite harsh on the palate when I sipped it but with some Pepsi it can make for a nice drink

Smoke and Vanilla on the nose. Very harsh first taste. Flirts with chocolate, vanilla and mint beneath a VERY wooden tongue. Definitely interesting though. Would recommend this with cola. The sugar compliments the woodiness and allows the deeper flavours to come through stronger.