Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Blend Gold Rum, 70 cl

Product Information

J Wray and Nephew/Campari have recently announced that the whole Appleton Estate range is to be revamped. A press release has been issued and here is a link to that. Personally I don’t really see the point but hey I’m not in charge of J Wray and Nephew/Campari. The barrel aging components have been reduced significantly here, with pretty much just that dark chocolate note staying in prominence up front. Otherwise, the biggest flavor you get at this point is a delicious combination of banana, pineapple, and coconut, which rides that chocolatey richness very nicely and makes for a good flavor profile. I still get a flash of brown sugar around the middle of the experience, but otherwise this becomes really just a mixture of dark chocolate and tropical fruits. Fizz (Dark & Stormy) On the finish, I do finally get some of that pineapple and just a hair of Jamaican “hogo” funk, but not nearly to the level that we saw in the aforementioned younger expression of this rum. On Ice Nose: Rich molasses hits you right away followed by clove studded oranges, cinnamon, almonds, apricots and plums. In addition to the fruit and spice there’s also a pleasantly phenolic side with engine oil, a dab of shoe polish and a drop of tar. We’re definitely in Jamaica. Appleton is a great distillery and this is a great rum,’ says our buying director Dawn Davies MW. ‘It shows the perfect balance between elegance and power and would be equally enjoyable for someone just dipping their toe into rum as those already in love with the category.’ What’s in the bottle?

The Appleton Estate was founded in the Nassau Valley of Jamaica, a location with rich soil, limestone hills, and plentiful underground water sources. The plantation started creating sugar cane, and in 1749 started to produce their own rum with that sugar. The taste is nice, a bit of sweetness up front with fruit and then oak and tobacco or leather. Then it settles into the heat. Very serious stuff indeed. It’s a real treat to try a Jamaican rum of this age, especially a rare traditional pot still bottling of Appleton. One for the hardcore rum drinker or the serious spirits collector. This was clearly a good time to revisit the core range as a whole, so we commenced a tasting to do exactly that. The marketing material continues “As a Minimum Age rum Appleton Estate Extra 12 Year Old has been aged for a MINIMUM of 12 years in select American Oak Barrels”.On the nose, the 8 Year Old Reserve is markedly more expressive and mature than the Signature, with notes of grilled pineapple, banana and ginger. There’s a more savory and slightly more wild dimension to this dram, with a greater oak presence and considerably more spice—the slight bump in proof makes itself felt in an appreciable way, lending heft to these flavors. This one strikes me as particularly fruity, with lots of pineapple, citrus and passionfruit notes, closing with a bit of supporting oak tannin. For your money you get the signature Appleton Estate stubby curvy bottle and a very handsome and sturdy card sleeve with a metal like lid and a well done plastic label covering the whole box. The presentation is very good. The only strange thing I found is that the top is a metal screw top not a cork. Still I quibble as the screw top isn’t cheap and nasty. It’s well threaded and seals tightly.

This is exactly what the company has done, condensing the “core” lineup into the following three bottles: Appleton Estate Signature Blend, Appleton Estate 8 Year Old Reserve, and Appleton Estate 12 Year Rare Casks. These brands re-debuted in the spring with a new bottle shape as well—taller and slimmer than the previously squat Appleton bottles, but with some of the same shapely curves. It’s a thoroughly modern approach, as indicated by this quote from Marsha Lumley, marketing director of J Wray and Nephew Limited, Appleton’s parent company (itself owned by Campari): I expected the complexity in flavors of a typical "12-year" rum, but got much more. As the rum first rolls over the taste buds, a rather strong flavor of oak and a bit of smoke dominates the senses. In this, whiskey lovers should feel right at home. A brown sugar flavor is also apparent, but even though this is a strong part of the rums nose, the sweetness in the taste is only in the middle-lower end of rums. I think this version of the rum may be the right balance of things. It’s much smoother, with the flavors better incorporated together compared to the signature blend, and still retains some of the tropical island fruits. But those flavors are starting to fade as the barrel aging components gain prominence. You’re also missing most of that Jamaican hogo funk, something we saw in the signature blend but not here. There are trade-offs being made, and this seems to me to be the right balance of things for a better all-around experience.

As you would expect from a Jamaican rum distillery, Appleton uses traditional pot stills with a double retort system — essentially two additional distillation vessels added at the end which increase the alcohol content and allow additional time for flavor elements to make their way into the spirit. They also do use a traditional column still as well for mass production of spirits that will be added later during the blending process. This works really well, and I think the key is exactly what we saw when we added some ice: that dark chocolate note blending well with the tropical fruits. Those two components are shining through and complementing each other nicely, making for a deliciously balanced and enjoyable tropical drink. The consumer palate has become much more sophisticated. Appleton Estate’s range boasts some complex and elegant expressions, which inspire us to both educate and entertain on a higher level. This relaunch gives us the opportunity to illustrate Jamaica’s rich history and geography, as we reinvent our most iconic international brand to connect deeper with our existing consumers and appeal to new markets across the globe.” If you enjoyed our rum of the year then this 21-year-old expression offers a logical progression in terms of style and maturity. Here we find the hallmark orange and spice notes from the 15-year-old greatly intensified and accompanied by stewed fruits, raisins, prunes and sweet, oaky notes of toffee and vanilla. While the Appleton Estate was cranking out rum, another Englishman named John Wray started his own business venture by founding The Shakespeare Tavern in 1825 in what was then the small village of Kingston, Jamaica. The town would eventually become the nation’s capitol, and the tavern a wild success. Wray was joined in 1860 by his nephew Charles James Ward, who proved to be an indispensable business partner, eventually earning his spot in the company name when it was changed to J. Wray and Nephew.

I’ve hesitated in reviewing the Appleton Estate Extra. This is because I found it to be very different from the younger Jamaican rums. With only a few distilleries on the island of Jamaica, I wanted to try some other Jamaican rum before diving into a review. There were facets of the Extra which I was unsure about and wanted to try some other aged Jamaican rum to ensure my comments have been made from an educated viewpoint. I will explain more as I take you through my experience with the Extra. I’m not sure many unfamiliar with the Extra would ever guess it was a Jamaican Rum. Having tried a few Hampden and Monymusk offerings along with blends such as Myers’s and Smith & Cross I have come to realise that by Jamaican standards the Appleton Reserve rums are quite refined and less rough and ready. Possibly slightly less in your face and a little more complex overall. Especially the Reserve and the Extra. Appleton Estate Extra is bottled at 43% ABV in a 70cl bottle. The first thing you notice about the Extra is the mahogany colour of the rum. The Appleton Special and V/X are a orange/brown and the Reserve is a gold colour. The Extra is much darker than all three. Behind the strong, slightly bitter and charred oak flavor, are several other interesting flavors. Most apparent is the spicy orange peel with a vanilla twist. Before the rum leaves the taste buds, I also sense some lighter but quite complex notes akin to nuts, coconut and various citrus fruits. On the nose, my immediate impressions are ripe dessert banana and molasses, along with light grassiness and faint hints of oak. Sweet brown sugar is featured prominently on the palate, along with sweet, toasty baking spice and fruitiness that trends toward caramelized plantains or tostones. There’s a bright note that is something like lime citrus, and an overall profile that is nicely balanced between freshness and richness, while being slightly punchy as well.To celebrate the occasion, we’re taking a closer look at this award-winning Appleton rum, starting with the most important question of all: What does it taste like? Observations: Here we have an excellent example of rum bottled without added flavourings or sugar, as per Jamaican regulations. At 15 years old, it shows excellent maturity without too much oak influence obscuring the spirit character.