Kirk and Sweeney 12-Year

The 12 gives you hints of vanilla & toffee with a heavy Clove finish that is slightly bitter and very dry. Definitely Not a sweet rum. Has a slight burn to it. As a rock melts and it airs out, it definitely mellows out, but still leaves the back of your throat with a heavy warming sensation. I’ve had better and had worst. Just another mid grade rum that’s about $5 overpriced.

I bought this from a local store, mostly out of excitement that there was finally something different. Looks nice, tastes fine, overpriced in relation to similar quality rum.

I guess I need another go on this one. Maybe it was because of the sweet cake I didn't taste anything special - yeah sure it got better by time but that stupid sweet cake.
By now I will rate this one a 6 but I will be back on this one

Looks good but fails to deliver. A bit of spice and vanilla but quickly fades to grey...underwhelming.

New to sipping rums, but a reasonable rum for the $30 at PA state stores. Bottle is nice. Drinking out of a whiskey glass. Nose is somewhat flat but taste is fairly smooth for the age with only mild alcohol burn. Hints of butter toffee and not overly sweet. A touch of raisin and minimal oak? Could use a bit more depth but for the price worth a try. Zafra 21 year got me started and this is not as complex.

Nice well rounded rum, versatile, but lacks some character to remember it..

EDIT: I'm finishing off the final bottle and wanted to give it another go. I added some water this time to try and open up the flavor. Definitely a bit better than the first go. I'm still getting an odd mix of flavors and the bitter taste is still there which I'm not sure if coming from the oak or a possible dried fruit. I wonder if they tried to put too much complexity into this. I think letting it sit longer may be the secret to this. The strong alcohol and vanilla is slowly turning into banana (laffy taffy). Will update later with my final conclusion, but I did give it another star.

First: Opening up the bottle was definitely not what I expected it to be. Alcohol with a faint sweetness. What did I buy?! Once poured, a tinge of vanilla mixed with a slight molasses under tone.

First Taste: Alcohol, vanilla, burn. Somebody said dried tropical fruit. Is this a Jaimacan? No...wait...bitter, sour...pepper?

Sitting in a rocks glass for 5-10 minutes: Bloom of vanilla...taste...pepper, alcohol...bitter after taste.

Honestly, at this point, I am not a fan. Nothing about this rum makes me want to come back. Was looking at the 18Yr...I'm going to pass. I'm not sure what the big deal is about this rum. Maybe I prefer a bit sweeter rum? I find the character hard to pinpoint. It feels like it's lost between Barbados and Jamaica. I may try adding a bit of sugar to it. Maybe some water or ice. I do compliment the bottle though. Very nice presentation. Looks wonderful. For comparison sake, I'm using Mt. Gay XO and Pilar 24 as the competition.

I’m Irish and from a navy town. I can down a bottle if rum in 2 hours if it’s good. This rum took me weeks to get through. Just burns without a reward. If you like cheap whiskey or lighter fluid you may like this rum

6 /10 seems a little stingy but its my rating against many others. cool looking bottle, corked and nice colour. much promise but not what I expected. All good but flavour swings off towards the leathery cigar type Cuban rums. I tried it all ways but enjoyed the neat mostly. I have barely any sense of smell so cant offer a view. Ill finish the bottle but wont rush out to buy another soon

As I own the 12, 18, 23 Kirk and sweeny rums I would say its more for cocktails than for sipping, the 18 is considerably better for just a few dollars more, imho