Hog Bay Caribbean Black

When this rum first hit the shelves a few months ago, the hilarious label and cheap $18 US price lured me into buying it. I do remember submitting a photo of this one in the Discussions on here because this was during the period when I just quit submitting full reviews. To my surprise, the rum inside was quite good, especially at this price. Hog Bay is actually in Bermuda, but no telling where this rum is really from. I also did not have any 5 Year Black Tot to compare it to.

Many thanks to Joola69 for sharing this as part of a rare rum exchange. Though he and I are currently the only reviewers as of this review, I did find it at my local Total Wines & More for just $15.99.

I've now read in a couple places this rum resembles Black Tot. So I first compared it to my favorite Black Tot, the 50th Anniversary. To me, that one was clearly better. So then I compared it to the Black Tot Royal Navy. This was closer, though I still prefer the Black Tot. But this was very good at just a fraction of the price, and it might even be better if it were stronger than 40%abv.

A great rum for the money!

I tried this because the other 3 people who rated this rum had over 4000 rum ratings between them and were comparing it to a bottle 3x more expensive. They did not let me down. Even tho I may be a novice in the "refined palette" category, I could still tell there was a lot going on in my first tipple. Medium smooth mouth feel which increased in the throat, then followed by a warm extended finish. Molasses, overripe fruit, raisin, and slight banana notes leads into a nice vanilla/ brown sugar finish. Perfect sweetness without being harsh. Thank you to the wisdom of those who rate with experience!

After noticing many pros on this site raving about this low budget rum I jumped. And OMG what a plunge. True, it is by far not a top notch rum but this rum is way undervalued.It does have that added sugar flavor but it's not excessive. Well balanced! I think it's all about the blending that allows this one to be noticed. I believe this to be rated at a high 6 but that bang for the buck sure gave this one a lift! All that's left to say is that this one probably has the best value of any rum so grab it while you can! I surely will be pillaging this one. Arrrgh!

I bought this one honestly because I thought the bottle was cool. And it was on sale. I like black rims so figured what the heck. Surprisingly it’s not bad. A little sweet, but I like that. A little vanilla, a little caramel. It’s a blend of rums but the Barbados sugars are what make it good. Certainly not top shelf, but eyeball level.