Gosling's Black Seal

Black Seal pretty much has stapled itself as the rum for the drink Dark N Stormy. Alone - meh. In that drink - great.

It makes a lovely Dark N Stormy, as does 100 other good rums. Taste of instant coffee and mild caramel when mixed with coke as does 100 other rums. Its ok and a safe purchase, rating this better than the average budget rum but not for me.

Update - My previous consumption of most the bottle was done during hot summer days and nights where I felt it to be just ok. Just consumed the rest during a cool period and its better. I would rate the new experience a 6.

Not expensive compared to other rums, but I would take a demerara rum over this black/blackstrap rum.

I've only tried this rum in my go-to rum and coke cocktail. That said, compared to other dark rums that I absolutely love in this mixed drink, this one is okay but certainly not my favorite.

Need a entry level black strap rum for your tiki parties? Goslings does the trick. Full of flavour, sweet and spicy!

Rich molasses taste would pair well with rich puddings.

Not a memorable sipper, but decent. Prefer it for the original and only real Dark'n'Stormy.

What to say that hasn’t been said about Goslings? As one of the most famous rums on the market, I suspect avid users of this site who aren’t familiar with this rum are few and far between.

I feel like this is the quintessential workhorse black blended rum. It’s not going to “wow” you and you’re not going to seek it out as a sipper. But it plays well with others and makes some decent mixed drinks on its own.

Initial taste is pretty sweet and aftertaste has a slight bitterness. For me this one has always tasted a bit hotter than it is (it’s only 80 proof), but yet it’s not a “cheap alcohol” burn, either: there’s enough richness to balance it out.

Goslings is a pretty affordable rum for the niche that it covers as a mixer. Plus, you legally cannot make a Dark ‘n Stormy without it. ;)

A bottle of this one is rarely not in my liquor cabinet.

Even thought I have experimented with other rums for my Dark & Stormy's such as the Cruzan Black Strap rum, Gosling's Black Seal is still my favorite. A dark and flavorful rum with a taste of it's own. The Black Seal Ginger Beer is not bad either but I prefer the Bundaburg or Barritts to it.

Is it El Dorado 12? No. Is it Coruba? No. But for what it is—a dark, molasses-forward English style rum that you can consistently get for under $20 a bottle—it's very good at what it does. A solid workhorse rum.