Appleton Estate Extra is another offering from the fine folks at Appleton Estate . Debated as to whether it should be known as Appleton 12 or Appleton Extra, I tend to stand by the first thing I see on the label, so Appleton Extra it shall be.
It is a blended rum made of 12 to 30 year rums aged in former Bourbon barrels, and is bottled at 86 proof. Why not 80? If I could answer that question, maybe I’d be a master distiller, and not just writing about rums now, eh?
Appearance: Visually a nice dark copper color, moving to blonde as the glass empties, but since we can’t drink the color, lets move on.
Nosing: There’s a warm sensation to the nose. Not in the sense of an overpowering alcohol, but more like instant transportation to a tropical beach. I quickly found myself cupping the glass with both hands, as though I could jump into the glass and wind up at the Estate distillery. Well, I suppose plane tickets will have to do (someday). The nose is fairly delicate, and not overpowering, but carries a nice molassesy funk that spells out its pot still origins. A bit of earth, brown sugar and toast to it. Very rich, warm, and inviting.
Tasting: For the depth and richness on the nose, I almost expected a very sweet rum, but instead found it surprisingly dry, though perhaps the proof has a bit to do with that. There is a nice oak must character to it, and again, the big molasses funk. On my initial tasting of Appleton Estate Extra, I sent my palate searching for flavors, but just kept coming back with RUM. This really is, to me, a definitive aged Jamaican rum, a rum lover’s lifelong answer, and a rum newbie’s definition of what a rum should be. As Paul Pacult said in Kindred Spirits 2
On Mixing: Surely Trader Vic and Donn had crossed something similar in their time, as this rum stands up well in just about anything calling for a rich, dark Jamaican rum. A Doctor Funk is particularly nice, as this rum can stand up to the lime and anise flavors in the drink. Where it really shines though is in a classic Mai Tai, acting as counterpart to, honestly, virtually any rum, but a nice aged Martinique paired with the Appleton Estate Extra is absolute heaven.
Score: This rum gets 5 out of 5 of my stamps of approval. An outstanding rum that defines its genre, and one helluva way to start up a booze reviews section.
(5/5)
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Beautiful review. Then again, I agree with you almost religiously. Maybe next time you’ll be cool like RumDood and include a recipe.
Aloha- when rum or other brown spirits at lower proofs are chilled for long periods, they can become cloudy as some of the fatty acids and esters clog together and make for a haze in the bottle. It doesn’t affect the flavor, but it can be aesthetically unappealing on the retail shelf. Many spirit producers chill their products before bottling and collect these particles in a process called chill filtering. As I understand it, when the abv is higher in the bottle, this effect is less likely to occur because the fatty acids remain held in suspension (Darcy or a distiller can explain this better than I can). When I was at Appleton, I asked them about why 43% and Joy explained to me that Appleton was very popular in Canada, and was in cold warehouses for long periods. So they bottled at 43% rather than 40% to help offset this effect as they did not want to chill filter their product. (There is a debate about how much flavor this process removes).
And there ya go!
This is hands down my fav rum. I go to Jamaica once a year and have to bring as many of these back as I can (that and blue mnt. coffee) Great review! Aww yeah!