Mezan 2003 Jamaica

Ripe bananas, overripe bananas and rotting bananas. Did I mention bananas? Lots of oak as well. It's very tasty, especially if you like bana-- okay, you get the picture. And yet, it's a little one dimensional for a Jamaican rum, with not a lot of the sweet-tasting tropical funk and aromatic dunder you'd expect. More of a cocktail rum than a straight up sipper, this will shine in Mai-Tais and other tiki cocktails...most especially in...uhhh...banana daiquiris.

Nice flavour ok on the Platte not had but not great standard rum

I think Mezan might get itself confused if it is not careful, as they have various Jamaican rums that they seem to label "Jamaica" and the vintage. This is a Monymusk.

Appearance is very light and somewhat disconcertingly, it has a light haze to it. I know about chill-filtering with whisky, but not so sure when it comes to rum. As it is, the room temperature here now isn't that low to make it cloudy what with it currently being 21c. But that is just appearances.

A medium bodied nose of banana with a hint of what I would call iodine, it is very appealing. This medium weight is carried through to the palate, where there are hints of tropical fruit and a gentle oak infusion. A decent medium length. As mentioned on some of their other rums, I think it might benefit from being bottled at a wee bit higher strength - maybe 42% rather than 40% as it comes across as being a little dilute.

Nonetheless it is a very good tum that is very smooth and easy to drink. While it could be better, I cannot find any glaring faults with it.

The afterburn is off-putting but the tastes are very enjoyable. Try the Mezan 2008 if you like this style of rum.