Banks 5-Island

A balanced, flavorful and complex rum. Good for both sipping and mixing. At the UK Rumfest in 2012 they mixed it with Ting (Jamaican grapefruit beverage) and it was great!

This is one of the best white rums I've had. Very good to mix with.

Easy to drink. Not overpowering. Had it neat and it wasn't harsh.

Heavily (and enthusiastically) marketed in the US, this filtered white rum is actually a blend of aged and unaged expressions from up to 21 sources on 5 islands. It is an interesting blend as such, and has more body and flavor than most white rums that run the grain-alcohol gamut of distillate flavor. It's OK neat, and even better subbed into cocktails calling for lightly aged rums, especially when you are trying not to "brown" down the coloring of a bright tiki cocktail.

This is a pure, dry, flavourful white rum blend with complexity, an odd character of fruits like overripe banana. The rum is similar to Banks 7 but charcoal filtered to remove the pale colour but retain its aroma and flavours. Easily sipped after getting past the first sip/smell but not for me, I prefer an aged rum.

Ok. Rating this an 8 is perhaps unfair to a good, single pot still rum with the same rating. But I try to follow a principle where the scale is subdivided into the specific style or category the rum belongs in, and in the category “decently priced, white blended rums” this is my new favourite. My only objection is that filtering brown/golden rum to make it white takes away some of its character, and that is exactly what has been done here. On the other hand, this is only a valid objection when you know what you lose — which I don’t, of course.

Nose: A hint of funky wild yeast; overripe banana and floral cane. Also a hint of boiling rice that remains pleasant — not metallic or chemical.

Palate: An unexpected fruit explosion of banana , pineapple and green apple distinguished with some mint and caramel. There is also a faint taste of fresh oak, quite subdued by filtration I expect.

Aftertaste: At first disappointing but a return of estery fruit and oak is revealed after a few seconds.

This is certainly my new first choice of staple rum for daiquiris, punch and mojitos.

Hätte nie gedacht, dass ein weißer Rum so gut schmecken kann. Zum Mixen eigentlich schon viel zu schade. Kann man wirklich selbst bei Zimmertemperatur schnabulieren...

It's a blanco so it tastes as harsh as it is. Probably a good mixer.

A 4.5 on my scale. The Golden Age was a 4.5 to 5. Too much of an afterburn straight. Better mixed, but not getting much flavor one way or another.

I’m very fond of this white rum as it brings the hogo it also a wide array of complex rum notes that totally surprised me for a white! Sippable on its own which is kind of crazy, but it’s punchy depth shines in cocktails, though oddly as a daiquiri its a bit underwhelming... requires a complex drink to truly shine

43% ABV. Pleasant, slightly harsh nose. Hint of Jamaican funk. This follows into the palate. There's also a good amount of brine. Nice and dry. Shortish finish.

Nice balance of harshness and flavor. Tasty enough neat, and excellent for cocktails.

It may be an 8-, but I'm docking it for price (it's very good, but not a very good value) and misleading label. What the heck does that big 5 mean, anyway? (Presumably it's the number of islands/countries represented—though the label only lists 4—but the average consumer would be forgiven for assuming it was an age statement. Buyer beware.) Here's hoping future iterations will be a little stronger, cheaper, or offer more transparency.

7+

This rum is a culmination of rums from 5 Caribbean islands(Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados and Java), hence the name! A smooth and balanced rum that offers attributes, characteristic of each distinct island.
Molasses, tropical fruit, pepper, oak, and some heat on the back end with Jamaican rum being the most pronounced with its pot still technology using black strap molasses.
This makes for a versatile rum that can upgrade your mixed drink as well as let your taste buds receive a nice splash of flavors that can be enjoyed neat.

The nose is amazing sweet, but the taste is nuanced, delicate and well balanced. It's an ideal mixer for delicate cocktails, where the rum is not being overwhelmed with tons of citrus. The higher price ensures I only use it to its best advantage.

A fine white blended rum. Decent though imperfect daiquiri rum, it shows its fullness guyana-ness at the end which makes for a weird mouthfeel with the lingering acid from lime. Not grassy enough for a ti, but yet pleasant all the same. Good for blended recipes that ask for 1 oz Jamaican, 1 oz cuban. My favorite use for it is 2 oz in a jet pilot with another .5 oz of lemon hart 151.

I am really impressed with Banks rums. They offer amazing flavor for the money.

The 5-Island light rum is no exception. Only $32.99 at K&L Wines (2017 price). Much more sophisticated than any other light rum I've tried. To me this comes closer to an aged rum than a light rum. I really like it straight, even at 43%abv.

Smells and tastes of sugarcane, spice, and a very light citrus (probably lime). Has a complexity I've never experienced in a light rum.

A great light rum; in fact it's my new favorite light rum.

Came across this rum at a little place called The Haughty Heron in Port St. Joe, Florida. You never know when and where you'll find something out of the ordinary. This is one of those instances.

Visually speaking this is a very elegant bottle. A bit unusual for what appears to be a white rum. It has a typical aroma which stings the nostrils a bit. But doesn't seem overly harsh. It is a crystal clear rum. It says it is a "5-island rum" but only 3 islands are listed: Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados. Guyana is listed but it's not an island. Apparently the folks at Banks aren't so hot with their geography. The last time I checked, Guyana was a country in South America. Did someone cut the country loose and set it out to sea while no one was looking?

Their website describes the rum thusly:

"A unique blend of 21 rums from 6 distilleries from 5 islands
Trinidad: Hints of Black Strap Molasses give the blend backbone
Jamaica: Pot-stilled rums provide exceptional aromatics
Guyana: Earthy and tropical fruit notes deliver depth
Barbados: Character-filled golden rums add zest
Java: Batavia Arrack, lends a touch of spice"

Uh, folks...GUAYANA AIN'T AN ISLAND!!!!

Okay...rant completed.

The blending does give it a unique flavor. Although the aroma does sting the nostrils some it doesn't taste harsh. Granted, I think most rum drinkers, other than the truly adventurous, would not consider this a sipping rum but it definitely would be an excellent mixing rum. Greatly suited for fruit-based drinks. It is rather complex but one flavor I kept detecting...and I could be way off on this...is a lime flavor. Almost a key lime. There is a hint of sweetness...just a little hint and there is a nice warmth to it. 43% ABV (86 proof) gives it a little more of a kick than typical rums but you wouldn't detect it from the flavor alone. According to what I read the rums used in this blend range from 3 to 12 years. But apparently it's charcoal-filtered to remove all color. It has some spiciness to it as well. This is a unique white rum that I recommend adding to your cabinet if you come across a bottle.

Not a big fan of your average, vodka-like white rum. That said, I'm a new fan of this one. It's full-bodied and chock full of flavor, with a natural, semi-sweet finish which quickly dissolves into gentle spice. Can't wait to make a batch of daiquiris with this because they will be amazing. BTW, it's great straight up as well.

Uno de mis favoritos, una gran experiencia para el paladar

A mish mash of flavours.

Some of the rums in the blend are prominent others might as well not be there. Not worth the money a very average white rum and the price is just silly

Great rum introduced to me by a bartender in Vegas. It has relatively limited distribution making it a real threat when found. Its simply extremely enjoyable to drink.

This rum was on my to try list for while given its pedigree. It is not a great sipper. Far too odd beyond funky in aroma and taste. I simply did not enjoy this one. Possibly great to mix but my mixed drinks still had that odd taste which I did not personally enjoy. It is smooth just odd in profile.

Banks displays a heat and strong heads taste unexpected from an aged white. I would still recommend it for mixed drinks such as mojitos, but not to sip.

This is a interesting rum. It a very nice sipping rum.

This is priced like an aged rum and has the complexity of one. Funky taste due to the Batavia arrack component. Great mixer or sipper.