Appleton Estate Black River Casks 15-Year

Enjoyed picking up a couple of these when visiting the distillery in Jamaica.

I find this less complex than some of the other Appleton's I have had. Not bad by any means, but not worth the money compared to the others in the lineup. Feels like it lost some of that funk.

It is a 43% rum named after the Black River, which springs in the Appleton Estate in the Nassau Valley of Jamaica. This place is also the source of water for Appleton rums. Appleton 15 YO is a blend of pot and column stills rums that have been aged in a tropical climate for a minimum of 15 years.

Bottle: Very nice, rounded, in the shape of the number 8. It gives a rather luxurious impression and comes in a gold coloured cardboard box.
Colour: Dark amber

Nose: A wonderful, slightly estery blend of various kinds of fruits and woods. It's a very sweet, fruity, fragrant scent. It is a rather drier rum with a slight sweetness. The nose has banana, pineapple, apricots, tangerines, sweet grapes, vanilla, chocolate, tobacco, a little glue and oak.
Taste: It's dry and smooth with a slight burn in the throat that subsides after a while. There is less sweetness than in the aroma. There is also less fruit in the taste. The fruit is mainly banana and cherries, followed by caramel, vanilla, cocoa, bitter almonds, spices (pepper, cloves), and more oaky wood.
Aftertaste: Medium-long.

Conclusion: This is an excellent rum with a very mild sweetness and a pleasant fruity aroma and flavour. I definitely recommend this version!

Rating: 9/10

Appleton rums produce nice rums. This 15 yr edition is not exceptional but certainty a nice rum to sip. Nice addition to my collection but not a top tier rum.

Fruity, funky, woody with a slight balanced sweetness, but in the most natural way possible

Appleton 15 black cask

Nosing
Toffee Treacle, coffee

Tasting
Not that much different from 12 year ... slightly more molasses heavy based ...

This is a very good rum with the signature Appleton flavors. It's more dry and spicy than the 12 year. But it's not really any better. Worth a try. But I'll be buying more 12yr bottles instead.

Dark chocolate and vanilla touch in the aroma, cognac, almond, coffee, woodiness in the body, long-term tail.

Kicked off another epic tasting Sunday 9/19/21 with this charming flavorful treat.
Lots of caramel flavor and aroma and my notes indicate that at the time I thought I also caught an aromatic whiff of lavender ??

This rum is a personal favourite of mine. It's smooth, complex and refined. It makes a great gift for a special occasion. This rum has a permanent place on my shelf.

When comparing the price of this to the Appleton's 21 year reserve, this is not too far off in taste. but significantly cheaper. You can certainly drink this a lot more regularly than the 21, without the need of such a special occasion to justify opening it.

The packaging is nice. Overall, I am not a new fan of Appleton's new look, but with the lettering being directly on the bottle, rather than a label, this is where the range starts looking a lot more premium.