Doorly's XO 6-Year

Iets scherp in de geur en in de keel, na een paar seconden een zoete / krent achtige smaak die blijft hangen en zacht op de tong.

I’m not keen on Doorly’s XO Rum. Neat I find it bordering on disgusting, because it smells like a Brandy, has no sweetness to it, has a rough alcohol burn, and tastes of tobacco in the aftertaste. Thankfully, for me at least, when mixed with Coca-Cola, Doorly’s XO does become sweeter and a tad more pleasant. Unfortunately though, however much coke you use, there is no escaping that dodgy, yucky aftertaste. Shame.
My harsh criticism of this rum, can be attributed to one major, significant factor. And that is, Foursquare Rum Distillery, where Doorly’s is distilled and matured. Now of course I do know that Foursquare is not only one of the most revered distilleries in Barbados, but on this planet. But, every single bottle of rum that has been lovingly created at Foursquare, has had zero sugar added to it. Now for me, a rum drinker who favours the more sugary rums, like Plantation XO for example, well, you can see my obvious problem. It’s a pity I didn’t do my homework on Foursquare before I spent £35 on the Doorly’s XO and not afterwards. The Silver lining however, is that even though I don’t like this rum because of its lack of sweetness, it’s still a much loved rum. So offering this to my mates who appreciate the difference between the cheap generic brands and the more prestigious ones, will impress them and make me look like the host with the most!

This is a great everyday sipper. It reminds me a lot about Doorly's 14 and the foursquare 2005 series.
It's not as smooth as those, but the olorosso finish gives it a really nice and fragrant nose. It's a bit spicy in the end and it seems to linger for quite a while. Love it!

I may actually like this better than Doorly 12 year. This is an amazing value rum.

Fruity on the nose with a pleasant dry finish. Smooth and with very little burn. It’s a nice rum, but doesn’t have much in the way of character or personality.

This rum was not as smooth as some other similar runs i've tried but it only had a little burn.

A nice fruity caramel nose came through after some settling time. This rum is decent and good value for money, can be sipped but also superb in corn and oil.

Nose: Caramel, sherry, cherries
Palate: Heavy on sherry and oak, with caramel following up. There's a mild grassiness as well, and a few fruity flavors pop out on occasion.
Tail: Very short tail, with a short but pleasant burn to the throat. The dry, sherry flavor lingers the longest but turns a bit bitter near the end.

Disclaimer: I am usually a fan of sweeter rums and/or Jamaican rums.

Overall, this is a solid rum that I enjoy sipping. I usually like Barbadian rums a lot, but the sherry flavors are a little too heavy in this rum for me. It could use a very small amount of sweetness to balance it out. I think that a minutely small amount of cinnamon syrup or velvet falernum might be good options to round out the flavors in this rum, but that's just a guess (until I make my next cocktail at least). This would be a good option if you like sherry, drier spirits, or a Barbadian rum that has some unique character.

Given my personal palate, I would probably give this a 6. However, I can tell that this is definitely a quality product and a great example of the style, so I think it easily deserves a 7. Plus, the price tag makes it one of the best in its class even without those caveats.

Tastes like a Rye whiskey with a little more coconut

Nose 8/10
Mouth 8/10
Finish 7/10
Price value ratio 10/10

What a great taste for an inexpensive rum. You can sip it or mix it. What ever makes you happy.