Hamilton Beachbum Berry's Zombie Blend

Normally, one can expect great rums from Beach Bum Berry or Ed Hamilton. Not this time. There was nothing that I could do to mix this one and make it drinkable.

If you are a fan of the original Zombie from the Don the Beachcomber and the rum blend contained within that recipe is a 10, this blend is a 7 out of 10. It makes a pretty decent Zombie but the resulting recipe doesn't quite compete with, say, using Appleton 12, Don Q Gold or Angostura 1919, and Lemon Hart 151 or Hamilton 151 in your own blend. I could see this being perfect for batching a bunch of Zombies for a party or for a tiki bar that makes a ton of Zombies per day/week.

Overall: 7. If you're going to craft your own Zombie, it's still probably best make your own blend from the original recipe.

Tasted at Laka Lono on 4/3/23. Reddish amber color. Aroma of cinnamon. Very thick malty flavors- nuttiness. Hogo but hot. Mid point burn, but Jamaican finish. Pretty good even as a neat sipper.

Gift taste from the Big Kahuna
Aroma: vanilla, strawberry, and a little bit of eye burn
Flavor: pepper, citrus notes - go ahead and be angry but I'm going to sip this.
I think this would be really nice Rum Rickey
❤️

I'm laughing at most of the reviews on this rum. People completely miss the purpose of it. It's not a sipping rum, it's strictly for mixing to make a Zombie Tiki drink. Zombies are quite complex and this rum allows you to use less rum in the cocktail if you are looking for an affordable alternative.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the original 4 oz of 3 different rums but this definitely works.

Trying straight, its a bit lacking. High proof but too punchy without some rounded complexity. Would probably be good in a cocktail though.

Hamilton has some of the finest rums on the market, so when I saw they were partnering with the legendary “Beachbum” Berry, I was excited to try it out. This blend contains an intriguing mix of rums that one would normally mix and match to make a Zombie per many classic expressions - a blended aged, a column still, and the ever important black blended 151. On its own, this is a touch rum to sip, largely (I suspect) to the 151, which shines through boldly in a less than appealing manner. In a drink (especially the one described on the back of the bottle) I found the blend to be serviceable, but had a difficult time using it in other mixes, especially those that don’t specifically call for the addition of 151. Even more disappointing, I found making my own “zombie blend” that contains a good 151 (Such as Lemon & Hart, or even Hamilton’s Demerara 151) made a much better Zombie than this blend. Overall, this bottle was underwhelming and I though I doubt I’d purchase again, I definitely made use of all 1L of it in a veritable army of Zombies

Definitely a mixer. Great in a mai-tai or bahama mama.

Dig the wine forward taste but it just to high an abv to get the subtle blend notes at the end. Would make a great cocktail which to be fair is what they promote to do on the bottle. Think dos maderas less sweet but overproof

Nose of vanilla, toffee, and molasses, and a potent flavor that includes some macadamia nut and cinnamon. This fiery overproof desires to be mixed in a cocktail. The bottle recommends the obvious use in a Zombie, which works nicely, and we also had success with Cobra's Fangs and Mai Tais.