This fairly well known rum from India is one of the largest selling rum brands in the world, but it’s also quite divisive. Even among my Indian friends, some seem to really enjoy it while others were happy to provide me a bottle in order to see how I’d rip it apart in a review – so here we are.
Old Monk is made by Mohan Meakin Ltd. whose history dates back to 1855 when a Scotsman named Sir Edward Dyer founded a brewery at Kasauli, Himachal Pardes, in India to meet the demand for beer of the Britons. Later on it changed ownership and it became the Mohan Meakin Ltd. distillery.
The brand itself, Old Monk, was launched in 1935 with the legend stating that long ago there was a British monk who was sneaking around the distillery in order to enjoy the rum ageing in the barrels and he eventually became somewhat of a rum specialist – he started giving advice to the rum makers of Mohan Meakin Ltd. and as such their rum became better, thus when they released their first rum bottling it was named in the honour of the old monk. Quite a pretty marketing story, but I’d take it with a boatload of salt.
I am also very skeptical about the claims made on their website which very romantically state that every bottle is handmade, they use weeks-long fermentation and that their blends may contain even rums aged up to 50 years. They do state in the production process section that they add “caramel of sugar cane” which is basically the E150a caramel colouring.
Before we move on to the reason of my skepticism I will have to state that my bottle (which is a stretch) is actually a 750ml plastic pet bottle that is sold only at the Indian CSD stores – basically these are shops for the millitary, even the label states that “Possesion by persons other than defence personel is strictly prohibited.” – oops!
Surprisingly, there is a lot of interesting information on the label such an expiration date for the rum, probably because of the plastic nature of the storage – it says February 2023, so hopefully I will be alright after drinking this. The label also states the ingredients, which are a little concerning: Demineralised water, neutral spirit, matured spirits, sugar. They also say it contains colouring and artificial rum flavouring substances – yikes!
Based on that I’m not sure how rum this rum actually is if it contains neutral spirits and rum flavourings, nevermind the sugar. Somehow I even doubt it has been aged for 7 years, but you never know.
So the Old Monk 7 Year Old is molasses and probably grain based, most likely column distilled and presumably aged for 7 years in unspecified oak barrels. Bottled at 42.8% ABV with sugar, colouring and artificial rum flavours added.
On the nose it smells like the rum flavoured biscuits I used to have as a kid. Cocoa cream, burnt biscuits, allspice and vanilla. Muscovado sugar, raisins and canned plums. It’s hard to discern too many flavours, the aroma is similar with caramel filled navy style rum. Sweet coffee, liquorice and some dusty cardboard.
On the palate it’s way too easy to drink. Cocoa biscuits, dark chocolate and allspice. Burnt sugar and a touch of liquorice. It isn’t as terrible as I was expecting, it is very reminiscent of the likes of Lamb’s Navy. Some nutmeg and coconut cream. The finish is short with caramel and biscuits.
This is obviously controversial, but given how this “rum” is made it isn’t actually very terrible and I can see why some really like it. If anything it tastes more like rum than stuff like Don Papa and as far as I’m concerned it gets a point for at least being transparent with the ingredient list. I can’t say if the Old Monk sold in India (which is where my bottle is from) is different from the ones exported and I’m definitely not spending my money to find out.
All in all, this shouldn’t even have rum on the label or be categorised as such…
It clocks at around £25 in the UK, but I’d rather take a cheap navy rum such as Lamb’s or Skipper rum which are better and actually rum (granted with a lot of caramel added).
Old Monk Very Old Vatted XXX 7 Years Old (PET Bottle):
Flavour/taste: 32/70
Value for money: 4/15
Transparency/purity: 1/15
Overall: 37/100
Cheers!