Appleton Estate Reserve 8-Year

Appletons have that strange distinctive odour. Hard to smell anything beside that. The taste is alcoholic fiery, dry but sweet anyhow. There is also afterburn, but decent one. For 8 yrs, it should be better rounded and mellowed, more refined. 8 years or not, this one has qualities to be rather mixer than sipper. Altrough I very liek 12yrs and V/X Appletons, this one is little bit of dissapoitment for sipping. So better mix it up or mellow it down with ice/water.

like in title....not bad...but definetly nothing special.

Just not quite good enough for sipping in my humble opinion.

Another good mixing rum but the 12 yo is a much better choice.

I liked this even more upon revisiting it. Similar mild funk to the Signature but with much more pronounced oak, spice, bitter orange, and stone fruit notes. Tastes significantly more refined, plays super well in cocktails... for ~$30 what's not to love?

Finally tried the 8-year offering from Appleton and it's a very impressive rum. I think I like it better than the 12 year, but I admit I have a bias for funkier rums. This one definitely brings a little funk to the table, more than I would've come to expect from Appleton - they were not afraid to let the Jamaican character out a bit on this one, while still keeping it in the corral of a standard aged rum product. Very smooth when sipped neat and great as a mixer. I'll likely be keeping a bottle of this in stock regularly.

I'm not sure I understand it, but I'm willing to try this again.

Tiki cocktails that need a moderately aged Jamaican rum recommend this as superior to Signature because it has a more Jamaican funk characteristic.

I HATE Jamaican funk flavor. Yet, I found this to be bland and flat. Not a lot of character, just bland. I was going to try Signature next, but I'm not sure I see the point if it's milder.

hard to ignore the value this bottle brings to the bar. A perfectly acceptable sipping rum but mixes well. The Appleton name brings a confidence this rum delivers on many levels. Bottle doesn't jump out like Flor de Cana which I would say has very similar character and attributes. Hard to resist on sale but there are lots of other similar rated rums out there to discover once you have tried this.

VX is my a great go to for mixing. 8 refines the mix a bit and has more presence. I didnt enjoy solo, but loved in a mix.

The only rum I drink when I'm in Jamaica. Fantastic for everyday rum & coke with a lime wedge. Great spice flavors with a hint of oak. For sipping I move up to the 15yr or older.