Bozkov Republica Exclusive

One of the biggest surprises in my rum tastings...didn't expect much, knowing the other Bozkov "rums", but this fruity, sweet, smooth taste left me amazed...

Presentation is very good, the rum arrives in an attractive round, portly bottle with a luxurious-looking gold-on-black label with stylized, ornamental letters. It looks like something you could find aboard the Titanic, and the motto could very well be "Sip while we sink." It radiates comfort, luxury, wealth and self-confidence. No complaints here - the visual presentation is fantastic.

The rum in the bottle has deep mahogany color, betraying almost hysterical amounts of caramel that had to be used considering this is a very young distillate ("up to 8 years blend", with a strong emphasis on "up to") bottled underproof (just 38 percent). Maybe that's why there is no word "rum" in the name of the product, because if I am not mistaken, according to EU regulations, rums must be bottled at 40% ABV minimum.

The nose is very faint, just hints of ginger-bread, winter spices and dough, but very distant and subdued.

The palate is dominated by the added sugar, in a profile that is reminiscent of the popular "Rum as Liqueur" approach (Diplomatico, El Dorado, and other Spanish-style and Central American brands). However, under all the sugar, we don't find a solid rum as a base, the mouth-feel is extremely thin and watery and the finish is warm (if short), but without any noteworthy tannin influence or complexity. Sure, it's bound to be popular, and you can pour it to a visitor with a sweet tooth, but it is unlikely to impress a rum drinker, being a heavily colored and sweetened cheap column distillate.

Which brings us to the strongest point - the price. I have managed to obtain my bottle for less than 300 Czech Crowns (that means around 14 US dollars), which is a price you cannot absolutely beat here, considering that most cane rums from Carribean start at about 500 CZC here (high tariffs on imported alcohol), and the premiumised, sweetened brands start even higher. So I am adding one point in the final evaluation just because this bottle can be bought so cheaply.

It's a perfectly inoffensive, "sweet and smooth" (read sweetened and underproof) sipping rum that probably will probably find its fans due to the popularity of sweetened rum on the market. I cannot really recommend it for mixing, because it does not have enough distinctive character to punch through in a cocktail (other than vague sweetness).

Mel jsem obavu jake to bude a dostalo se mi mileho překvapení. Cena za 0.5 kolem 200czk je fakt dobra. Slozeni z osmiletych rumu take prijemne. Je teda pomerne doslazovan aby byl prijemnejsi na konzumaci. A vune je take slabší. Ale celkově velmi dobry pocin. Neni to teda na vicero panaku...2-3 na chut.

Finally we got our Czech cane rum. Price is good, so this rum will be tasted by many people in Czech Republic. Rum has sweet taste to lighten its hard body. Rum is pleasant to drink. It deserves good rating, to grow between excellent rons. Smell is nice.

I don't like this company at all. But to be fair we compared it blind with different rums. Was the worst of them. Just sugar and something weird in mouth.

I was very pleased when Božkov announced their first real rum ( = from sugar cane ). Nice looking bottle and reasonable price suggested, that this rum could bring some dignity to Božkov brand. But when I opened it for the first time I smelled that typical Božkov artifical "rum flavour" which they add to every other Božkov alcohol and that was it for me. Taste wasn't any better. You can feel that what you drink is indeed rum, but the taste also has some "Božkov flavour" in it. Very dissapointed, only giving it 4 for good price, but I will never buy it again and use rest of this bottle for baking.

Ve vuni vyrazne sladke a kavove. V chuti poracuje na stejne vlne a pridava se lehka korenitost a lehounky vliv suseneho ovoce. Dozvuk opek sladky a velmi kratky. Spise to chutna jako nejaky rumovy liker, nez rum. Ale oproti klasicke "plachetnici" to je rozhodne pokrok.

cheap, sweet. when I get the bottle again, I drink it. I do not plan to buy it myself.

Jediny rum od Bozkovu, ktery se da pit, navic za velmi priznivou cenu.

Similar taste to Diplomatico 12y but more sweet and more sharp taste with less layers and flavours (added sugar and caramel for colour)
For the price ( 8Eur / 0,5l ) is it very good.