Hamilton 86 Demerara

Bar staple for tiki drinks & more. Excellent flavor, yet not overly sweet.

I bought a bottle of this a couple of years ago because I just love demerara rums. At that time, I was put off by it's lack of overpowering sweetness that I had been accustomed to. So after finding out that this is one of the six essential rums for tiki drinks by the great Beachbum Berry, I read all of the reviews here for this one. Being that is was only $27 and readily available, I picked up a bottle with no regrets.

The nose has medium alcohol vapors along with the sweet demerara sugar. On the palate is pure demerara sugar with quite a burn at 86 proof and not being overly sweet. I would call this one as semi-dry. The after burn is rather bitter, which is okay because this rum was never meant to be a neat sipper. I will gladly drink it on the rocks or in exotic tiki drinks which is highly suggested.

43% ABV. Aged up to 5 years. Rich nose—though not as big, say, Foursquare Port. Slightly astringent. Caramel, hint of funk. Chocolate. Charcoal. I'm pretty sure I'm picking up some Port Mourant here. Lively palate. Stone fruit. Touch of vanilla. Shortish finish on the palate, though it does stay in your throat for a while. Empty glass smells a little like maple.

It's no long-aged rum. But it's not a nice, big nose, a rich flavor, maybe just a little coloring added. Phenomenal for exotic cocktails, as are most Hamilton offerings. A good, honest rum at a fair price. A better, dryer mixer than ED 12 or 15; comparable to ED 5 or 8, but I'd choose Hamilton any day.

Note that this is the same rum as Hamilton 151, just watered down to a more standard mixing proof.

7+

A dark and heavy rum, thick and sweet smoky flavour, and a nice long aftertaste. I didn't love it at first, it took a few tries before I enjoyed it properly.

Dark and syrupy flavor without having a syrupy mouthfeel. Pretty sweet, but nothing I wouldn't expect from a Demerara. Certainly try a 2oz pour if you see it.

I know, I know El Dorado is sweet. But that's what you should probably expect from Demerara rums. Without that creme brulee vanilla sweetness, you get this big heavy black thing that has aged out its first run molasses characteristics. This is a fine rum, but not fine enough to unseat the magnetic pull of other Guyanese rums.