Bumbu Original

To sweet, to much added stuff, might be oke with coke but i don't even want to try, rum should be enjoyable without adding coke..

While actually pretty smooth sipping, the amount of sweetness/banana on the nose & palate are just a little too much. Will still drink it occasionally & it seems relatively popular with guests, so worth keeping on hand.

Sampled this rum and my first impression was the sweet smells of banana and vanilla which felt very un-rum like to me. Tasting this rum confirmed this was an overly sweet rum, probably from extracts rather than from a natural distillation process. While this may appeal to those who prefer sweet rums, I did not like it at all.

When you see this is a 35, you know this is gonna get interesting. Its unique. I was surprised, but not pleasantly surprised. This is not rum. When you buy a rum, you buy a rum, and when you buy liqueur, spiced, flavoured and sweetened, you buy that. This is not an aged rum. This is a fruity (banana) flavoured alcoholic beverage, spices, caramel to taste, voila and banana on the nose.

That being said its an excellent liqueur. Mixes quite well and ok on the rocks. Not a rum.

This one was recommended to me in special store, but i regret i didn't smell it at least. It is 35% strong, it smells very artificial and tastes the same. There is some "fruit essence" added.

Lager colored. Aroma is vanilla, honey, fried banana, Werther's Original. Taste goes to heavy vanilla, banana, cream fudge.

A complicated as this rum sounds as described on the Bumbu website it's hard to categorize it as either an aged rum or a spiced rum.

So I call it both.

According to their website: "Our rum is distilled using two continuous stills and aged up to 15 years in grade-A, once-used Kentucky bourbon barrels. The yeast used during fermentation is a distillery secret that dates back as far as 1840, when some of our original iron pot stills were cast."

They also use sugarcane originating from several countries: Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, and Honduras.

The rum is distilled in Barbados which is my favorite country of origin for rum (Martinique being the others).

BTW, this rum is in one of the coolest rum bottles I've ever seen. Looks like something Hollywood would come up with for a pirate movie. I uploaded a photo I took.

The color in the snifter is a bright amber. It shows excellent legs as I swirl it around my snifter. A wonderful aroma comes from this rum...reminds me of baking vanilla cake from scratch. At 35% ABV (70 proof) it's a little less potent than typical rums.

The flavor is very complex due mainly to the spices used. Self-described as "all-natural native spices and no artificial colors or flavors". There is a noticeable sweetness but I do not know if it has been sugared or if some of the flavoring brings the sweetness naturally. Either way the sweetness is not overpowering. Instead it adds to the overall experience. My palate is not very educated on detecting subtle flavors however vanilla seems to be one of the predominate ones. It's even noticeable in the aroma. Again, not overpowering. There seems to be some pepperiness and a bit of oak tannin as well. The tannin bitterness is rather mild. I also seem to detect coconut and fruit flavors (mango???). Very complex. And smooth.

Definitely qualifies as a sipping rum especially in a beach chair at the beach. Or a lake. Or a river. Or a pond. Or a puddle of water. Doesn't matter. Even if you're nowhere near a beach this rum will take you there.

I like this rum. A lot.

I can see why this rum is so popular. Tastes like candy going down. Everyone likes the easy drinking but it comes off as a little too sweet for me. I'll likely finish my bottle and not buy again.

Nothing special on first tasting but much nicer on the second glass

I tried this once. It's watery and sweet. The fact it's bottled at 35% to save on taxes yet costs as much as a premium blend. For me is good.