As a rum enthusiast I do get excited when I get to try some limited edition, cask strength, old vintage rum that can easily make a dent in your wallet for months to follow. But because of the expensive nature of these rums, purchasing them for myself to enjoy in the comfort of my home (usually in bed as I’m lazy) it’s quite a challenge. That being said, a rum doesn’t have come in fancy decanters and cost a kidney in order to be enjoyable. One example of a delicious, but affordable rum is the Rum-Bar Gold.
Worthy Park Distillery which is located in the central parish of St. Catherine in Jamaica is a state of the art distillery whose history goes all the way back to 1670. It was thanks to the Clarke family, the current owners of the estate, that Worthy Park started distilling and ageing rum for its own brand after it was upgraded in 2005. The Rum-Bar brand was released shortly after in 2007 with the Rum-Bar Gold being their first aged expression.
Worthy Park uses molasses made at their sugar factory from sugar cane from their own estate, being one of the few rum distilleries in the world that do so rather than importing the raw material. Annually they produce on an average 7000-8000 tonnes of molasses which is piped 1 kilometer away to the distillery for use in rum production.
Rum-Bar Gold uses the WPL – Worthy Park Light marque, which despite the name, is still very potent in flavour. It has a 30 hour fermentation using distiller’s yeast and its ester count is between 60-119 gr/hL AA.
It’s molasses based, pot still distilled and aged for 4 years in former Jack Daniel’s barrels in the tropical climate of Jamaica. Bottled at 40% ABV and unadulterated.
On the nose it definitely doesn’t feel light. Cardamom, banana foams, canned pineapple, marmalade and almonds. Quite fruity with pears and green apples too. There’s a bit of a medicinal note as well. Camomile tea and lemon zest.
On the palate it’s still fruity. Stone fruits, green apple and unripe bananas. Black tea, cardamom and lemon drops. A touch of wasabi and some ginger as well. Has quite a lot going on for it. Almonds, bright tobacco and brown sugar. The finish is medium to long with stone fruits and caramel.
This has plenty of flavour and layers for me, it shows what a pure pot still Jamaican rum is capable of. Fruity with a decent amount of spice, I will easily sip this and at just £24 (Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange) for a bottle, it’s more than a steal. Definitely a must-have in any bar or home-bar!
Rum-Bar Gold score:
Flavour/taste: 55/70
Value for money: 15/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 85/100
Cheers!
This one is an ABSOLUTE GEM, punches WAAAAAY above its league, Absolutely no contenders at this price, nothing coming even close.
I have to agree
An obligatory addition to your budget rum list :).