Denizen Merchants Reserve 8-Year

I believe Martin Cate after reading everything he knows about the Mai Tai rum, and keep this rum tucked away with my curacao and orgeat to pull out and make a mai tai with! It's beautiful, tastes lovely and a good price point! Wish more stores carried this!

This rum was literally made for a mai tai. Also good in other cocktails but wouldnt drink it neat.

Aged funky Jamaican rums are my favorite type of rum and this bottle certainly delivers that. Bottled at 43%, it is similar to Smith & Cross and Plantation Xaymaca, and arguably better than the latter. Costs Slightly more than I’d like to pay for a rum so similar to S&C but it’s rare enough around me that I felt that I had to snag a bottle while I had the chance. If you’re a hogoholic like me, try this rum at least once.

Got this as my catch-all Mai Tai rum and have been very pleased, as have all of my friends who have tried it. A few of us know what a real Mai Tai is and with the proper technique and proportions (homemade orgeat helps too) I have developed what we consider the best Mai Tai we've had with it. There is some real funk and depth to this rum that comes through just the right amount in a Mai Tai without challenging the pleasant nuttiness and dry orange flavor.

Like a lot of rum drinkers, I got my start in Mai Tais and have been chasing the perfect wave ever since. Denizen was blended specifically with the Mai Tai in mind, and it works. Other comments cover that topic plenty well... Following Cate's own advice to follow styles rather than particular rums, I have to say other lightly aged pot still rums also stand up well- my previous go-to is Appleton, but I've also done Barbancourt 8 with good results. Denizen offers a solid alternative at an ok price point. Revising my review because I just tried it straight for the first time. It's... ok. Not as good as the old Appleton V/X, maybe better than the newer Appleton Signature. Probably best left to mixing. 6.5 if I could.

Bought this because I heard it was created by Martin Cate to resemble the blend Trader Vic used upon running out of Wray and Nephew 17 and 15 for his Mai Tai’s. The Jamaican funk mixed with Martinique molasses ( not agricole) was something that I never tried. It is similar to Plantation OD but a bit more molasses with the banana funk. I am super impressed by this, definitely works as a funky Jamaican for an authentic Mai Tai, or any other tiki cocktail calling for dark Jamaican rum. I have tried the fabled Wray and Nephew Dagger rum and Appleton Rum Punch rums at the Mai Kai and Hukilau. Denizen is closer to the Appleton Punch but with a Smith and Cross hint of funk.

I have postponed buying a bottle of this for months. Now that I have my most perfect rum combination for a Mai Tai, it was time to break down and get this all-in-one rum made for Mai Tai's. The comparisons to the long gone W&N 17 Year old also piqued my interest.

So I made a 50/50 combination of Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican along with Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole and poured that into one Glencairn glass neat. Then I poured the same amount of this Denizen Merchants Reserve into another Glencairn glass , also neat. No need to make Mai Tai's at this point because it is all about the rum that goes into making this drink. Both were swirled around and allowed to breathe for about 10 minutes. The information on the bottle told me not much other than what has been already posted on here. My combination was pale yellow. This Denizen was orange.

This Denizen has a smoother taste on the palate than my combination, albeit with much less hogo funk. However, the after taste of this Denizen ruins it, making it seem like a cheap industrial column still rum made for the masses. If this is what that old W&N 17 Year was like, I am so glad that it is now extinct. This only proves that rums have come a long way from those Kill Devil days. I will stick with my combination, but this bottle won't go to waste.

And yes, I am well aware that the Martinquan rum for the original Mai Tai was not a rhum agricole, but made from molasses. There is a reason that most of those dark molasses based rums from that island are now extinct save for the awful Negrita Dark.

Update February 26, 2019: This rum is worthless as a neat sipper, worthless on the rocks, and worthless as a mixer. So why did I not lower my rating from a 6? Because there are also a lot more rums worse than this! This was created for a certain California tiki bar to save time and money in making Mai Tai's. However, this one only creates a fake Mai Tai and Trader Vic would be rolling around in his grave if he knew of this travesty! For those that order Mai Tai's from this trendy bar, they do not give a rat's ass that those Mai Tai's are fake, but only like to brag to their friends that they drank Mai Tai's at such and such trendy bar. I know of at least one tiki bar that would never stoop to such levels. I have had this rum for almost two months and it is finally gone, thank goodness. Never again!!!

It's still a nice rum with a nice flavour. It was made for making cocktails and that's fair enough. It's just too harsh to enjoy straight up for me.

This aged, blend is a little bit Appleton, a little bit Smith and Cross and a little bit Agricole that sort of make it in category of it’s own. The aroma instantly reminded me of a traditional quality Mai Tai and of course, this makes outstanding cocktails. I also like to sip this on a occasion when something a little lighter and drier is in order. A little brown sugar lingers on the lips with a nice medium long, warm finish. Very unique and nicely done.

I was actually hoping for it to be a bit more intense than it actually is.. The funk is there, but not at the dramatic levels I was expecting from the description. It is, however, a classy rum that deserves a great deal of respect - It is the closest imitation for the legendary W&N 17yr.
Initial nosing is of caramelized ripe banana. It has a very pleasant velvety mouthfeel, and a nuttiness that I assume comes from the Grand Arome. Some tropical fruits mix in as it progresses to a very smooth, warm finish. I would love to see what this would showcase at a higher strength...
Its a go-to rum for Maita'is. Though I would argue a superior drink can be had by blending Smith & Cross with an aged agricole.