Koloa Dark

I think Koloa is one of the best American rum makers. This dark rum is my favorite of all dark rums.

Smells and tastes of vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and spice. Perfect at 40%abv and quite easy drinking straight. An amazing rum from Koloa!

This is the best dark rum I have ever had. Don't get me wrong, I would rather have a good aged rum but if you want a dark rum then this is one. Great dark color, excellent aroma and great taste if little after burn.

I certainly was not expecting the best mixing rum I've had to be from anywhere but the Caribbean. However, Koala Dark wins that prize. This vanilla flavoured rum with hints of coffee and chocolate was amazing mixed with coke, but was also surprisingly good over rocks or straight. Not quite as sophisticated a finish as more expensive rums, but still incredible.

Put me in the minority that enjoyed this on the rocks as much as I did in a mai tai. I prefer a sweeter profile, and this delivers. Nice, deep caramel and molasses on the nose that carries through the palette. It might lack the complexity of some of the finer aged rums, and the price runs on the high side outside Hawaii, but I would consider this to be a special spiced rum.

Vanilla overkill. Bit expensive and too sweet like all the koala rums. Nice to taste but wouldn’t buy again.

All I could taste was sweet sweet sweet. Had some interesting floral notes, which was intriguing, but I just could not get past the sweetness. Would probably be okay in mixed drinks, but would absolutely not recommend with Coke.

Although it makes a fabulous float, it is too good (and costly) to be used on a mai tai. Never use it as a mixer, a waste of money and great rum. By far the best rum out of Hawaii. Almost a desert liqueur, as it is somewhat sweet, but it is fabulous on the rocks at the end of your evening, being smooth, rich, and flavorful.

A nice sweet rum with an interestingly pleasant aroma in the bottle. It has distinct molasses and vanilla flavors. Although not a sipping rum, this would be fantastic in mixed drinks calling for dark rum. Definitely recommended.

It tastes like sweetened vanilla extract. It is very smooth and easy to drink, but all I can taste is vanilla. Not as sweet as I expected from reading other reviews (I find Dictator much sweeter) but its hard to find the rum under the overpowering vanilla.

I will say it is possible I got a bad batch. Of the bottles of Koloa dark available, the colour of the rum varied greatly between bottles. Some as dark as coffee, others were a light amber. I choose a darker bottle. I would be curious to compare it to one of the light amber bottles, but at $75 CAD I cant justify that.