The Real McCoy 12-Year

Another great bottle from the island of real rum.This one get straight to the point and is a little more heavily bodied then you usual Barbadian. My nose fills with notes of leather, oak, coconut and pepper. In the mouth I pick up a dark character with notes of oak, leather, tobacco, orange-peel and spices. Despite the manly character, it's a pleasingly refined rum that's well executed. The taste and color feels heavily influenced by the barrel, but it never goes overboard. Thumbs up.

At first the name was a bit of a turn-off. I thought it was a cliche marketing trick of using a recognizable name with positive connotations but no relation to the actually product. I was pleased to learn that the name comes from a 1920s prohibition-era rum runner named Bill McCoy, who never watered-down or adulterated the rum he was selling, thus earning a reputation for himself. They called his spirits "the real McCoy." (The phrase pre-dates Bill, and there is a good amount of marketing storytelling here as there is no direct link between him and the current production, but it's nice to know there's a real story all the same.)

This is a great 12-year-old Bajan rum with no added sugar. Along with the other offerings from Foursquare and Mt. Gay, this makes for a fantastic "benchmark" sipping rum, with notes of oak and dry caramel. Took a few minutes to open up, but once it did, it was very nice, indeed. I think it has quite a bit more character than the NAS MGXO, and is a little dryer than RL Seale's Finest. This is probably also the smoothest of the bunch. To me, RM12 competes with Foursquare's cask series, just without the level of nuance/interest those ones offer.

Compared to the already-excellent Real McCoy 5-year, the taste is very similar, making it difficult to justify the extra expense of the 12. The 12-year is slightly smoother, and has a richer nose of brown/demerara sugar. The 12 is clearly a more refined/enjoyable sipping rum, so grab it if it's within your budget, but I was surprised at just how good the 5 was, so feel no regrets about trying that one instead if your budget's tighter (or if you want an exceptional mixer).

8++

I would love to do a side-by-side tasting with this, Doorly's 12-year (finished in ex-Sherry casks) and RL Seale's Finest—the latter two appearing to be significantly better values from the same distillery. But you can't really go wrong with any of these :)

(PS, I don't understand how anyone could rate this less than a 6, but apparently some have very different standards than the site's rating suggestions. [Also, wow, this rum must have excellent distribution in Denmark!] At the time of this review, the rating without these peculiar outliers would be 8.04, rather than 7.58.)

Update: 8+, 8 :)

I was on the fence about trying this one after reading the reviews, but finally decided to give it a try. If I had to rate it right out of the bottle it would be lower. I inadvertently let this one sit in the glass for 30 minutes while I was distracted. When I got around to trying it I was pleasantly surprised. Not to overbearing or sweet and very smooth. A nice sipper. Tried another glass without the wait and it was good but not quite like the first. Give it a try but let it sit a while.

Lækker Rom uden sukker - god eftersmag af valinile og tobak

the rum is good, great color, but I think it's overpriced.

I'm generally not a fan of rum aged in bourbon, but this is nice because it still has a touch of rum sweetness (though I wouldn't mind a little more sweetness).

Tastes and smells of oak, bourbon, caramel, a light spice, and smoke. Very smooth. A great rum for the money.

While the nose is nice, the mouth is awesome! Damn smooth caramel, butterscotch, coconut, banana, leather, tobacco, chocolate, and citrus. A nice noticeable bourbon finish to top it off too. This may be a 10 at some point, but for now 9+

Sugar test-0. Well duh, it's from Foursquare!

Nice colour of Ron. End taste is bit sharper, like cinnamon could be felt. There is also a vanilla flavour but Ron is not so sweet. So the guys better drink it. It has full body. I like it. Empty glass after Ron is nice to smell like dried plums I feel. :-)

Had this on ice. Great sweet taste, this is a good one for the home.

The taste was a little too whiskey-like for me. Since I don't drink whiskey this wasn't the right rum for me at the moment.

The aroma offers no sweetness to my nose. Alcohol, fruity (orange?) and soft vanilla and oak. Quite warm on the palate but not hot. It's a very, very strong but smooth warmth. Very dry on the palate. A hint of natural sweetness initially but dries out very quickly and stays dry and woody. Hints of leather. As it sits in the glass and opens up a touch more sweetness comes through on the front end and a bit more oak character. This tastes like aged rum, no BS. Hints of oak, leather and vanilla. Not whisky-like. Long softly bitter finish, slightly numbing. I'd think this is a purist's rum. I like it! A lot! What I would expect from Foursquare. Pure rum, no bull, no sugar, just distilled molasses aged in oak and all the complexities that goes with it. This is a no nonsense rum that has a lot going on and a lot going for it. Highly recommended. Fine Barbados rum, I've yet to be disappointed by one. Enjoy.

Had high hopes for this rum base on the reviews but did not find anything to justify the price. Nose was to sharp, none of the whiskey or molasses hints I expected. This was recommended as a sipper yet the bit covered up the body leaving just a hint of funk. As a mixer again disappointed as it did not carry through with any definition in ginger ale or coke, slightly heavy in citrus. Not a rum I will rebuy though I enjoyed some of the funk.

UPDATE- tried the next round mixed stronger and enjoyed it more...moved to a 7 and may keep in my bar after all...

Reminds me of a slightly more refined RL Searle 10yr.. I compared this along side the 12yr limited edition. Nice deep golden colour in the glass , no added sugars here. On the nose caramel but restrained , not over the top and oak. No fruit notes that I could smell. Dry rum obviously as no sugar , tastes like it should , old school rum , leather , spice and caramel. Good classic rum.. that said I preferred the limited edition with the Madeira.

Though the 10yr Limited Virgin Oak brings a lot to the table, the 12 us sweeter with more of a molasses flavor.

...guter Rum geblendet vom ehemaligen Masterblender von Foursquare, das sagt eigentlich schon alles.

I like this Barbados rum for its no nonsense in your face rum
12 years , no sugar added
It is surprising it is smooth with a bite to let you know it’s there wonderful rum awesome rum and coke and works awesome in any tiki drink this is the Real McCoy

Color: 2/5 heavy curtains., Nose 4/15 hard oak., Taste: 15/20 sweet and easy to drink.

Well ballanced, not sweet not dry. First taste full an complex, second taste fruits - mostly peach. Aftertaste drier wooden with average long, but smooth. Not recognizable that its 46% strenght.

Narrow, dark, soft, it's actually getting worse with every sip

barva třešnová
vune jemnší oříškova
chut ploší alkoolová, připomína mi klasicky rum, bez nějakých aromatu a příměsí.
7

:-)
Ok smell.
Ok taste.
Ok aftertaste.
;-)
Jesper.

Nose: oak, molasses, dates, dried fruits, vanilla. Palate: Oak barrel, dark chocolate, slightly smoky notes, nutty, raisins. Finish: Mild and long-lasting
Conclusion: An authentic, honest Barbados rum of 12 years in barrel without sugar additives.

Complex nose and palate with a quite long afterburn for a Bajan rum.
R.L. Seales and the Foursquare distillery has some different brands aged 10-12 years. I have some of them (see picture), but haven’t tested them against each other. Must do that sometime. I’m quite sure that the Real McCoy will come out as a top brand.
Picture: My Bajan shelf & my bottle.