Appleton Estate Black River Casks 15-Year

My 3rd Appleton and went from a 7 rating for the 8 year reserve to an 8 rating for the 12 year rare cask to a 9 rating for the 15 year Black River. I actually am doing a side by side comparison with the little bit of 12 year that I have left. Black River 15 is slightly more complex in taste throughout and is just a tiny bit less harsh. Both have a nice deep amber color but the Black river has more of a red or auburn color to it. The 12 year has a tiny bit of that Jamaica funk to it where the 15 year Black River seems to be missing it. Which is fine with me. Can not go wrong with either one but for me thev15 year is a slight improvement.

This Jamaican Rum is probably the best in that terroir and is much smoother that most. However I found this offering to be pricey. Ive also never really a fan of appletons. If it had a bit more going for it, it could be an eight.

i enjoy this after a good lunch and with a good cigar ...
first i must wait the rum to sit in the glass some 10 minutes, it have a beautiful color, when rotating the glass, a lot of legs, good sign...
nose: you ll know it s an appleton, similar to others, strong alcoholic burn (after 10 minutes in the glass the burn is fading) but also some vanilla
mouth: more flavorful than the 12, vanilla and brown sugar, dry as every appleton
finish: medium, warm
conclusion: better than the 12, not good as the 21, but i like it ! even the cigar is better today :-) and i think is not over oaked, really not much oak ...
don t know the price yet, in the store i received the bottle but they didn t calculate the price, so if it s cheaper than the 21 i give it a 8.4 ! oh one more ... it s a bourbon/whisky drinkers rum ...

This rum isn't bad by any means, but I find it lacking for the price. Especially in comparison to the 12 year rare casks, which has a very similar profile. The most notable difference is that the 15 year gets buried in oak a bit, and loses much of the nuance of the 12 year.

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.

Jedná se o blend rumů, které zrály v jednou použitých sudech z amer. dubu po bourbonu min. 15 let. Některé rumy, které tvoří finální blend však pocházejí až z 50letých sudů.
Název vzdává poctu řece Black River v jamajském údolí Nassau, která dodává vodu filtrovanou vápencem, jež se využívá k výrobě všech produktů lihovaru.

Aroma: Lehounká smradlavost Jamajky, bourbonovitost, kokos
Chuť: Nasládlá, jemně dřevitá
Dozvuk: Svěží, kořenitě dřevitá vanilka, velmi jemně tropické ovoce, stopově esterový
Sladkost: 0/3
Vzorek #9 na RumFest Praha 2021
Moc dobrý Appleton (u mě lepší než 21yo!) s lehce esterovým profilem, který mě opravdu baví. 8,5b.

This is definitely a tasty rum, but the difference between the Appleton 15-year and 12-year is too marginal to be worth the extra $30.

Chuť 15 je zase o level výš než 12. Výraznější drevitost a Plnejsi chuť. Chutná všem a za ty peníze je úplně super. Dost podobný 21.