Appleton Estate Black River Casks 15-Year

Nose: Ripe bananas, molasses, vanilla, and dried apricots
Taste: really oaky ,more smooth and complex version of the Appleton 12 year(rare cask), definitely a good sipper but not balanced enough to be great. There’s a bitterness or harshness at the back end that I don’t like. This rum is better suited as a mixer or bargain sipper. I personally prefer the 21 year.

I paid $60USD and this price point seems fair for what you get. I would say that this rum is the middle sibling of the 21 year and 12 year rare cask. Cheers🥃

Since I had never heard of Black River in Jamaica, I just had to look it up. It is on the southwest coast of Jamaica about 20 miles south of the Appleton Estate. Back when I visited Jamaica in 1988 and 1996, this part of Jamaica saw no tourism at all. This has obviously changed as there are now safari boats guiding tourists through these mangrove swamps. I gather that some very special wood from this area goes into making the casks that aged this rum.

If you are expecting a heavy black char in this rum, you won't find it at all. It is a very good dry rum with the usual no sugar being added, but I still prefer their 8 Year Reserve Blend as my favorite from this island. So glad that I happened upon this one this afternoon while stocking up on K&S 18 Year before they are all gone.

This Appleton isn't quite soft, it has dry and woody taste. Can feel nuts and it have fine strenght. Very nice rum.

Beautiful rum. Complex flavour profile of brown sugar and spice with a warming solid finish

Such a great rum. As with most of the longer aged Appleton, this carries little of the funk that is associated with Jamaican rum. Still an amazing rum.

While I don’t enjoy this as much as some other rums, it is one of my favorite Jamaican rums. The initial scents I got more banana, vanilla, and some sweetness. The first sip was more oak than anything.

As I was doing dishes while sipping this, it was left on the counter for about 15 minutes before I came back to it. At that point I had some odd scents, akin to soft, warm bread and apples. The taste at that point reminded me of overripe bananas or fried bananas.

And while the thought of it may give some people a slight heart attack, I bet it would make an excellent El Presidente.

A bit more complex in middle phase ( +3% is helping), but the difference is distinguishable only in direct comparison. If you want to save, buy 12y (new bottling) or buy 21y that is even more smooth, complex and ballanced.

Definitely tasted some banana notes. Very smooth, oaky taste. The one thing I noticed in the 15 vs. the 12 black river casks was that there was more of a bitter taste. I do enjoy this rum but I think I prefer the 12 over the 15.

This rum is slightly better than the Appleton Estate 12-year, and it has less of an aggressive bite, but, for the price, it is rather mediocre. Overall flavor intensity is limited and thin.

If you love oak you might really like this. Other than that it is pretty average. I could list a dozen 15 year olds which blow this away right off the top of my head.....and they all cost less. I received this as a corportate gift. This is probably exactly what it was marketed for. I found it to be thin and not at all complex. What little is there is in nice balance. It comes with this fancy taste notes card which touts orange peel, hazelnut and coffee. After 250 rum tastings I would be all over this. These notes did not find me. This is a quality distillery but they sure make a TON of different rums. Some are genuinely good, some are marketing cash cows designed for revenue only. This is the latter. Decent rum but completely overpriced and over hyped.