Ryoma 7-Year

The bottle is quite attractive with its minimalist design, resembling those ceramic bottles sake is poured from we all know from old black and white Japanese movies.

In the glass, the color is pale straw yellow, obviously a natural color obtained just by barrel aging, so points for that! Stern contrast with certain brands that are aged for a few years, yet resemble maple syrup due to heavy caramel dose.

The nose is delicate, vegetal, grassy, and earthy, wet grass, moss.

On the palate, this rum is very delicate and complex, resembling agricole rhums, but much less assertive, with a distinct brine note, but perfectly harmonious. There is an underlying hint of a sweet note, resembling a fleeting smile of a sympathetic stranger.

The finish is warm and medium-length.

This is a very clean-tasting honest rum, without any additives, sugars, fruit extracts and suspicious wine cask "finishes" many producers use to cater for the popular cravings for sweet taste. Beginners will tell you that it's "raw" and "young", because their taste buds are pampered with loads of sugar and other additives they are used to, but don't listen to that - in this rum, you are tasting the pure distilled cane spirit
aged in oak barrels, nothing more, but also nothing less.

Therefore, I am compelled to give this rum the perfect score. It won't please everyone, but neither will an original book or a daring painting.

This rum goes its own way, regardless of opinions of others, and that is something I must appreciate. We need more rums like this.

Something diffrent. Kind of a sagé.
More Sweet likure

Pas que ce soit une mauvaise boisson en soit, c'est plutôt maitrisé mais ça ne ressemble en rien à ce qu'on connait ailleurs. Une odeur de jeune whisky et un gout qui rappellera le saké effectivement (sauf pour les puristes du saké ok). Étrange, pas à mon gout, c'est dommage parce que justement je fuis tout ce qui se ressemble.

Mixte original entre saké et rhum la frontière entre les 2 est assez ténue

Really strange smell and taste, if I wasn't told that it was rum I wouldn't have guessed

First of all, I think all the ones who compare it to Sake never drunk Sake of their life.
Just because it's from Japan then it tastes like Sake, BS. I drunk enough of Sake in Japan to say I have never found one similar in taste.

Instead, and I guess it's where many get confused, the smell and first taste (and even the colour) are very much similar to a good grappa (Italian spirit).
After few seconds, then you will start to taste some sugar cane.

My only issue is its price, way too expensive (especially if you compare with prices of Grappas), but it's a very enjoyable rum.

This is getting alot of hate but I like it. Its strong, very smokey and intense. So many are comparing it to a Sake, but I have no idea why. This is closer to a young whisky with a rhum twist that isn't quite there yet but still does the job.

Rhum de couleur très pale pour un rhum âgé de 7 ans.
Ce rhum n'a pas vraiment le gout du rhum, il se rapproche du gout du saké.

Japansk rom med en rolig smag som minder om mange andre helt lyse rom bortset fra at smagen lynhurtigt forlader munden igen

I must collect something, else i get crazy, so why not Rum?