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Kirk and Sweeney 12-Year rum

Kirk and Sweeney 12-Year

Dominican Republic | Aged | 40% ABV

7.5/10
393 ratings
Recommendable to most
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393 Kirk and Sweeney 12-Year Ratings

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Paul Gardner 🇺🇸 | 5 ratings
Posted over 5 years ago

After reading all the reviews on this rum, I decided to try it. I was disappointed. The rum is thin, in that there's very little mouth feel to it. It presents an alcohol burn on the tongue that's not very pleasant, and the flavor is lacking. It could very well be that I just don't care for this style of rum. My favorite so far is Ron Cartavio XO which is very different. I do like a sweeter rum with more caramel and molasses hints. I'm sure this is a great rum for many people, it's just not my style.

Wo1fpacker 🇺🇸 | 14 ratings
Posted over 3 years ago

From the get go it's obvious this is sweetened after distillation. But Kirk & Sweeney is still an enjoyable rum experience either as a casual sipper or in a simple cocktail like a daiquiri or a planter's punch (Just be sure not to add simple syrup). Palate is sweet with hints of almond, biscuit and heavy molasses. Aroma is has a *hint* of burning caramel. All in all not a regrettable purchase, but not a repeat purchase.

Captain_Tyson 🇺🇸 | 100 ratings
Posted almost 2 years ago

Good marketing sells. Neat bottle. Looks fancy. Didn’t taste like good rum. Kirk nor Sweeney are releasing quality aged rum.

PitBullCH 🇨🇭 | 27 ratings
Posted over 6 years ago

Found this in my local Rio Getränkemarkt recently and gave it a try - tastes a little raw for a 12-year old, but has a decent colour and structure/legs, and I do like the bottle shape I have to say. Would buy it again, but there are better out there.

(edit: downgraded to a 5 as my tasting experiences and palette have developed over time)

nomad 🇺🇸 | 137 ratings
Posted 9 years ago

Very (too?)smooth, a little sweet, and a nice finish. Somewhat base and it does not stand up to mixing. My thoughts have soured as time goes by.
edited to add sugar test results- 4g

Paul B 🇺🇸 | 472 ratings
Posted 6 years ago

I visited my favorite liquor store in hopes of finding another bottle of El Dorado 12-year-old, which was the only vintage sold out. I then saw this highly acclaimed aged rum agricole for only $27. Buying it was a no-brainer. It is one of the smoothest rums that I have ever tasted with very little burn. As for flavors, all I can taste is caramel. Adding ice to it did not improve it, so this is a smooth sipping rum to be enjoyed neat. It would also put any gourmet desert dish over the top. In a mixed drink or even a craft cocktail, that would be unthinkable.

Update about three weeks later: After letting it sit for a few weeks with only a couple of snifters tasted at first, the flavor profile changed drastically. The intense sweetness was replaced by the smell and taste of wet leather, as in wet sandals or a wet leather belt. This is not necessarily a bad thing because it reminds me of fools who don't know about proper footwear on the beaches of the Caribbean. It's either barefoot, cheap flip-flops, or reef booties for snorkeling or scuba diving. The smell and taste is not over powering and this rum is still one step above the horrible Zacapa Solera 23. Bourbon oak barrels are known to impart a taste of leather, but it is always subtle and nothing this strong. Maybe the sugar brought out the leather smells. At any rate, I docked this one a point and may not buy it again.

Now about the bottle with multiple purposes. First off, it suckered all of us into buying the cheap rum inside. It is very hard to pour and needs two hands. Quite often, a nut cracker is needed to unscrew the tight fitting cork. This is without question one of the heaviest rum bottles that I ever bought. It would seem like the best bottle to bring onto the boat filled with complex pre-mixed tiki drinks that would avoid tipping over, but empty bottles of Papas Pilar or Pyrat XO serve this purpose much better. This K&S also happens to be a much better rum than those other two bottles just noted.

This was my very first review for Rum Ratings and this bottle was purchased after reading many of these reviews. Plantation Pineapple reviews are what lead me here in the first place.

Update May 7, 2019: For those of you who still have the old bottles of K&S with them being widest at the top, KEEP THEM as they will soon become collector's items!!! The new bottles are totally round and look like rum versions of Chambord Liqueur. I kid you not! I at first criticized my bottle of K&S 12 as being hard to pour and needing two hands. At least the cork fits tight and the bottle is unlikely to spill on a rocking boat out to sea! After having a lot a very bad rum bottle designs, those original K&S bottles are for keeps! Hang on to them.

Bob 🇺🇸 | 74 ratings
Posted 7 years ago

The rum is smooth enough to sip however the flavor of it is just different than most rums I've tried and in a negative way for me. There is a bitterness that I'm just not enjoying as much as I would like to. I won't be buying another of these beautiful looking bottles.
Update: I like some sweetness in my rum and this is dominated by bitterness. I keep tasting it but then I make a bitter face and say "blehhh" after every sip. I really wanted to like this one but I just don't. The bottle I got was on sale and I'm almost convinced it was a bad batch or something based on everyone else's reviews here. I will continue to revisit this rum and update accordingly.

Haemonculi 🇺🇸 | 52 ratings
Posted over 5 years ago

Not a bad rum to sip but leaves much to be desired.

James 🇺🇸 | 19 ratings
Posted over 7 years ago

Again...suckered into buying this by the rave reviews on this website...Starting to wonder....

It's okay.
Smell: spice and burnt tropical fruit
Taste: spice and burnt tropical fruit with a war of flavors going on in the vanilla, allspice, caramel areas

Factoring for price and 12-year aging, a 5/10 is where this one goes easily. This is a rum with an identity crisis.

Kevin 🇺🇸 | 1 rating
Posted over 4 years ago

Drinkable but I am confounded by the high ratings for this overly sweet rum with a strong vanilla aftertaste. If you are into a spiced rum flavor without the spice, then this would be a good rum for you. But if you like a nice neat sipper, and you appreciate the true undertones of a traditionally distilled rum, this one is not for you.




Brand Details

Name: 12-Year
Years Aged: 12
ABV: 40%
Type: Kirk and Sweeney
Raw Material: Unknown
Process: Unknown
Distillation: Unknown
Women Led Rum: No