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Denizen Merchants Reserve 8-Year rum

Denizen Merchants Reserve 8-Year

Trinidad | Aged

7.6/10
65 ratings
Recommendable to most
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65 Denizen Merchants Reserve 8-Year Ratings

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oedelpino 🇺🇸 | 35 ratings
Posted over 3 years ago

This is not a sipping rum review. The Martinique grand arome and Jamaican pot still rums in here up the hogo and general funk in a way that features best in a Mai Tai or grog-style tiki cocktail. Much like Smith & Cross, this is best if used as intended!

Dave2522 🇺🇸 | 28 ratings
Posted over 1 year ago

Through another Rum Rater's recommendation for reading material, I'm now engrossed in Martin Cate's Smuggler's Cove tiki cult book. SO, I had to order a bottle of Cate's collaboratively-blended Denizen Merchant Reserve 8 Yr, his re-creation of the rum originally used by Trader Vic Bergeron in creating the Mai Tai back in 1944, before the original rum became unavailable. I haven't tasted a Mai Tai since I was a punk sailor on liberty in Honolulu 50 years ago--at Trader Vic's--and my interest has been rekindled. I still haven't tried it in a Mai Tai but just attempted it neat and couldn't go there, so I added a rock and a splash of soda to reveal the flavor and dilute it a bit...it is indeed a funky blend and it's screaming for an added shot of lime juice...it's sweet, bitter, dry and VERY fruity all at the same time...others have mentioned rotten bananas and I pick that up immediately. I'll have to think this one over...I want to see how it mixes, for me it's not a pleasurable sipper just yet but still it's somehow intriguing. I'm still learning that all rums are unique unto themselves, but even so this one stands out as something different. It's a blend of Jamaican and Agricole, not for the faint of heart, and it's truly weird. I'm not knocking it, just sayin'....

TheJayHawk 🇺🇸 | 37 ratings
Posted over 1 year ago

Great aroma of Jamaican esters mixed with oak citrus. Great taste of fresh bananas, oak, and barrel spices. Overall a great rum.

Triton Ogletree 🇺🇸 | 134 ratings
Posted over 1 year ago

It's fairly smooth, is semi-sweet and definitely decent.

Captain_Tyson 🇺🇸 | 100 ratings
Posted almost 2 years ago

Yes yes, Martin Cate helped recreate a rum that has long been depleted to use in a Mai Tai, but this is so much more. What an odd marriage between a Jamaican Pot and a Rhum Grande Arome. That French style Rhum though is a little harder to come by. Not an Agricole, molasses based. Very strong aroma and flavor from that. It’s a dirty dunder Rhum and it’s amazing.

Bailey703 🇺🇸 | 1 rating
Posted almost 2 years ago

I’m new to the rum world and like many, I found Denizen M.R.8 via tiki sage Martin Cate’s excellent Smuggler's Cove book. As a Mai Tai fan, I was intrigued Cate had worked to reverse engineer the approximate taste of the original rums in the original ‘44 version. I don’t have enough rum experience to compare with others, but FWIW I did find it very enjoyable and satisfying to drink in my Mai Tai. Cheers!

JAHinojos 🇺🇸 | 28 ratings
Posted almost 2 years ago

I have drank various Jamaican rums for years, and decided to try this based off the reviews here and other places. What a find. It has the wonderful Jamaican funk and the interesting impact from the 20% Martinique rum. Together they make a rum which is excellent in a Mai Tai, but need very little adulteration to be enjoyed.

Mujuru 🇺🇸 | 152 ratings
Posted almost 2 years ago

This is a blend of aged rums from Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad. The fascinating thing about about the rum from Martinique in this blend is that it is a molasses based Grand Arome and not a cane juice based Agricole. That would make sense since the original Mai Tai blends used Grand Arome and not Rhum Agricole as we know it. This rum is famous for making a solid Mai Tai, but how does it stand on its own?

The nose here is fairly simple but fascinating. By that I mean it is not overly complex but the notes it promises are some new ones to me. Here I smell Marzipan, Oak, Macadamia Nuts, and Vanilla. Yes the Oak and Vanilla are common. But I am not sure I have ever gotten such clear notes of Marzipan and Macadamia Nuts on a rum before.

The palate is a bit surprising given the nose. It is richer than the nose would suggest and is also different in profile. Taking a sip I am taken aback by Pineapple and Caramel joining the Marzipan and Vanilla notes from the nose. I did not quite expect to get tropical fruits on the palate given the more nutty vibe of the Nose.

The finish is short and a bit lacking, though not disappointing by any means. The finish is a very brief mix of the Nose and the Palate. Here I get Macadamia Nuts from the Nose and Pineapple from the palate. Nothing more but decent enough.

Overall I would say this is pretty good. It holds up indeed quite well on its own even if unspectacular or complex. This rum can definitely be enjoyed on its own even if it won’t blow you away. It’s solid if unspectacular.

Short Description: Marzipan and Macadamia Nuts meet Pineapple in an interesting and pleasant if unspectacular combination.

Nose: Marzipan, Oak, Macadamia Nuts, Vanilla

Palate: (Richer than the nose suggests), Marzipan, Vanilla, Pineapple, Caramel

Finish: (short) Pineapple, Macadamia Nuts

ABV 43%

Country of Origin: Bottled in Trinidad; a blend of rums from Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad

Justinharp 🇺🇸 | 29 ratings
Posted 2 years ago

Wow what a blend. This along with their recipe for a Mai tai makes for the best starter to Friday happy hour.

RosieSox 🇺🇸 | 49 ratings
Posted over 2 years ago

This is both a grassy rhum and a Jamaican rum with a good bit of hogo all blended together and finished off with a smoky oak layer. It should be really good in a Mai Tai a la Smuggler’s Cove!

MaxMunafo 🇺🇸 | 67 ratings
Posted over 2 years ago

I recently learned that this rum was produced in collaboration with Martin Cate and is the house Mai Tai rum at Smugglers Cove. Being a total fanboy, I drove over an hour to the closest store that had some and bought three bottles.
Happy to say it lives up to the hype. I’m very satisfied with how it works in a Mai Tai, and I will be testing it in other recipes that call for an aged Jamaican rum. Yes, I know it’s not entirely Jamaican, but the Martinique Rhum Traditionnel (molasses based, med-high ester) portion of the blend is similar to Jamaican rum from what I’ve read.




Brand Details

Name: Merchants Reserve 8-Year
Years Aged: 8
Type: Denizen
Raw Material: Unknown
Process: Unknown
Distillation: Unknown
Women Led Rum: No