Stade’s Bond No 8 1-8 Years

Saw this is my liquor store and did some research. Decided I wanted to try this as it a vat rum and not barrel aged. Vat aging was the original method when rum was beginning, and vat aged rum is still the favorite of the locals on Barbados. I also wanted to try as Barbados does not allow any sugar adulteration to the rum, and I do not like my rums too sweet. I loved this. It is a bit vegetal, but only slightly. The flavors are clean and clear.

I do like Barbados rum so I tried this one on a recent run to Total Wines. They had this ranked in the mid-90's and I expected more but it wasn't bad.
Fruity on my palate but the aftertaste was a bid bland, not really standing out for a good finish but the price and smoothness makes it worth a 7 for me.

This rum finally made it to these shores about six months ago. Out of the 23 rums that I have tried in the last eight months without posting any reviews, this is one of the two that warrant my repeat purchases. For only $25 US per bottle, I just cannot believe how good this rum is. The secret is in the Vat aging, as in very large wooden casks. As for their unaged white rum, no way! Hmmm! Maybe Bacardi and Captain Morgan should take cues from these folks to make their crap taste much better.

Update November 25, 2023: I have been buying these rums for more than 2 years now. It looks like the Vat aging is a double edged sword, because my latest bottles can only rate as a 6. I had dropped my rating down from an 8 to a 7 some time back, but forgot to adjust that on here. This current batch needs 2 parts of my favorite cola to 1 part of this rum just to be made drinkable on ice. This distiller does state that the aging is from 1-8 years, so maybe this batch was not aged long enough. This is still a budget rum, and the results can vary greatly.

Bought this at TW and over there the reviews are all over the place, and now I understand why. This has a definite Jamaican funk element that's going to catch people off guard who aren't familiar with it, or expecting it in a rum from Barbados. I like it pretty well, its different from most other rums. Its got a bit of sweetness to it, and tastes like you mixed a Bajan rum with a Jamaican rum. I'd give it somewhere between a 7 and 8, but because its priced around $25 I'm going to round it up to an 8 because of the solid value it offers.

Good sipper for the price. Medium smooth in the mouth and throat with slight grassy finish. Dry oak and grassy flavors with slight funk. Sweetness is right where it should be. A bit to much burn on the finish for me.

Wonderful rum all around, I'd give it a 7.5/10 on taste alone, but it gets bumped up 1/2 a point for being a good value. Unlike some other drinkable Bajan rums on the market at around this price point, you get a lot less barrel flavor, which frankly, I prefer. Lots of fruity notes, mainly coconut and banana on my palate, but on the finish I do get a bit of band-aid, which would be the only tasting note that I don't particularly enjoy. It's a bit on the grassy side to my palate, but not in an unpleasant way. Otherwise, this is a wonderful rum for sipping but especially for mixing. There is 6g/L of dosage(or so I've read), for those that care.

Cork review: 10/10, seriously sonically satisfying cork.

After trying a few months ago I went back recently to TW for another bottle and I am liking this rum more the second time around. Initially had given a 7 but had to up it to an 8. There rally is just no better value rum out there. It is just a really solid bajan rum. Dry. Semi-sweet. It really has some depth to it. It kicks the crap out of so many rums costing twice as much.

This is an incredibly solid rum for the price. It's color is pretty light for rum almost orange. It has an ether smell I like, similar to a Jamaican rum, but lacks the funky aftertaste. A little woody and dry for some folks maybe, but almost no alcohol taste. It reminds me of peanuts. While it's not spicy enough for my rum and cokes, it is a wonder with some pomegranate or mango juice.

Sweet with fruity flavours. Slight funk with grassy vegetative slant. Smells like too much acetone. Good enough for an everyday drinker but wears on you after awhile.