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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.
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The Appleton Estate 12 year is actually a blend from casks with rum between 12 and 30 years of age. Many producers would jump right at the chance to call it a 30-year rum, but not Appleton Estate.
I expected the complexity in flavors of a typical "12-year" rum, but got much more. As the rum first rolls over the taste buds, a rather strong flavor of oak and a bit of smoke dominates the senses. In this, whiskey lovers should feel right at home. A brown sugar flavor is also apparent, but even though this is a strong part of the rums nose, the sweetness in the taste is only in the middle-lower end of rums.
Behind the strong, slightly bitter and charred oak flavor, are several other interesting flavors. Most apparent is the spicy orange peel with a vanilla twist. Before the rum leaves the taste buds, I also sense some lighter but quite complex notes akin to nuts, coconut and various citrus fruits.
To get the full flavor experience I recommend letting it breathe in the glass for at least 5 minutes before drinking. And when drinking it, doing so in small sips so as not to overwhelm your taste buds with its stronger flavors.
On the other hand, because of the orange peel and vanilla flavors, I think this rum would also excel in a variety of mixed drinks where these flavors complement.
All in all a rum which is very competitive in its price range and with more complexity to offer than one might expect when reading the label.