...
Appleton Estate 12-Year Rum is a blend of several rums aged between 12 and 18 years in American oak barrels after being distilled using small-batch copper pot stills.
The rum is produced on the Appleton Estate, which sits in the Nassau Valley in Jamaica. The estate’s origins date back as far as 1655 when the English overthrew the Spanish to rule the island and Frances Dickinson, grandfather of the distillery’s founders, received the land as a reward for his role in the overthrow.
Sort by: Popularity | Newest | Oldest | Rating
×
Take note - Jamaican rums *do not* allow for added sugar, so this will be quite dry on its own if you aren't used to the style.
Having come from a bourbon background, the first time I tried this on its own I felt like I'd been punched in the face with a stick of salami. The funky flavors from the pot-still imparted esters are quite something if you don't have a rum background or have only stuck with bland white or gold well rums. Even now that I've tried a variety of rums over the last couple years, it's still a bit overpowering on its own. Nonetheless, I've come to love it, like you might love your dog even though it smells terrrible.
Having said that, you'll rarely be drinking this on its own even at the $40 price point. Where this rum shines is in a mixer for almost any tiki drink I've tried it in. It's a must in a mai tai, zombie or jet pilot, along with a more refined Ron del Barrilito 3-star for counterpoint; I've also found that it can liven up any flat-tasting tiki drink to add a bit of funk by subbing 1/4 oz of this for any other rum in the drink.
I've tried several other options to impart that much-needed funk to my large contingent of tiki recipes that I love, but I know of literally no other rum that will make them soar as much as this one does. I'd give it higher than a seven, but it's lack of ability to stand on its own pegs it in this range. Still, in the context of a good mixer for extremely high-quality tiki drinks, I'd give this a perfect 10.