Monkey Spiced

this is a very smooth rum and a tasty ingredient to any recipe calling out spiced rum. it has a distinctive taste that carries vanilla and a hint of jack Daniels because of its storage in the aging process. definitely will be your "go to" rum for the summer! winter too...

First, I've been a fan of Zane Lampe for a long time and was super excited to find out he was releasing rum. It's been valuable for a while but only very recently available to ship to Ohio. I bought a bottle of both the Spiced and coconut rum. They were $23.99/ea. plus shipping, so around $30/ea. The Spiced has a very nice aroma, sweet with hints of vanilla and oak. Not an overpowering alcohol scent, overall very pleasant. Took a sip and it is quite sweet with a lot of vanilla coming out and a hint of coconut. Not as sweet as some other rums I've had but overall very good. Mixed with some coke zero and lime ages for a great cocktail. I will try a modified mojito soon.

You see above my linen closet personal alcohol shelf - our family liquor cabinet is downstairs. As you can see I have very eclectic tastes in my alcoholic beverages. My favorites right now is the apple brandy on the far left, from Shinn Estate Vineyards, superb as an aged cognac, the Monkey Spiced Rum, and Dorothy Parker Gin (no juniper berries but very herbal), all for straight sipping.

So my local liquor store provider, who actually introduced me to this spiced rum, told me they are discontinuing making it. I haven't purchased any since before the Pandemic, but I certainly hope this is NOT true!

Monkey is my FAVORITE spiced rum.

I have been drinking for over 50 years, and spiced rum is one of the many alcoholic drinks I truly enjoy straight to sip, along with excellent brandy or cognac, double chocolate vodka, and a few others. I used to drink Captain Morgan and have tried Cruzan and Sailor Jerry, and to me, those don't compare to my enjoyment of Monkey Spiced Rum.

It's color is rich, aroma not overpowering but spicy enough, its taste is full bodied but not too strong (as I find Captain Morgan to be), finish is smooth and the spices are balanced.

I have not tasted any other spiced rums other than the ones mentioned above, but to me, this is the best spiced rum, not to strongly tasting of alcohol, smooth and perfectly spiced. It also happens to have less sugar, which is a plus in my book!

You get what you pay for with this one. You're better off with a captain morgan honestly.

A very different spice rum with coconut overriding the spices; makes a nice change. Like most Monkey rums there is not a dominant taste, the rum is hidden and the spice selections are definitely second tier. It is almost like they took the coconut and added some spice.

Too sweet for a sipper, just not enough body to carry but a solid mixer. Have not blended it yet but can think of some that this might be special in.

Not a stocker for me but can be a wonderful change of pace.

Nice vanilla flavor with almost no alcohol burn. Great for sipping or with cola.

This one tastes a bit smoother than it's brother called Toasted Coconut, mainly from flavors of caramel and vanilla and a few strange spices. However, as a word of warning, a mere 50 ml can make for one miserable long drive the next day. For taste, this one also would get a rating of 5, but drops down to a 4 for its aftermath. See my review on Monkey Toasted Coconut for further details. I am not into duplicating my own reviews and then changing a few words. These two rums taste entirely different, but both have the same base.

As for starting out with a bad base such as this one, I have to reiterate a wild idea that I had years ago. I told a few wine snobs that my goal was to become a Thunderbird tycoon, as in taking rot gut Thunderbird Wine and then aging it in oak barrels to get the impurities out. Well, I even researched how that stuff is made and the executives at all companies that make "bum wine" such as Thunderbird won't even touch it. All kinds of nasty things get mixed in with the grapes (I will leave that to your imagination) and then it is made strictly for the consumption by the dirt poor with the only purpose of being to get stinking drunk. So once one puts crap into wooden barrels in the hopes of aging all impurities out, there are some awful things that will just never come out in the end. I don't think that the rum used for Monkey is nearly as bad as "bum wine", but it sure in hell is not good.

I saw that this rum was rated highly on here and for the most part this site has never steered me wrong. But wow was this one way off. This might honestly be the worst rum I've ever tasted. Horribly over spiced with no flavor just alcohol burn and a mix of everything from the spice cabinet. How is this rated an 8.....

The packaging is excellent heavy bottle, great durable 1 piece synthetic cork. Stylish labeling. A reuse bottle for sure.

The nosing on this is rather odd... I can most closely peg it to Sailor Jerry spiced rum with surprisingly more alcohol present. This all given that the monkey is 35% abv and Sailor Jerry is 46%.....

I enjoyed this rum at first neat over several tastings. I can say that there is little taste going on a fleeting medium spice flavor that finished with straight alcohol. Given its 35% ABV I was rather surprised by this alcohol finish but at least it was not drowned with vanilla to cover up this short fall.

I also made 3 Cuba Libres with this rum 2 oz Monkey rum, 6 oz Coke, and half a lime. This I determined was the ideal use for this rum. The vanilla and spice notes really came out and the alcohol was no longer present on the palate.

This I determined is an expensive mixer which sells for 25.00 a bottle plus tax outside of the sale I got it on for 20.00.

While their website claims that the coconut rum is better for sipping, I would barely sip a spiced rum let alone a coconut one.

All this being said sailor Jerry at 46% ABV was much more flavorful and actually smoother with an actually more subdued nose and a far more palatable finish. I could easily sip sailor jerrys and enjoy it while this monkey rum was a pain to finish off. The thought of mixing sailor jerrys has also never come to mind...