This is Bounty Spiced Rum and in this Blog, I’m going to tell you all about it, what it tastes and smells like and then I've got my recommended serves, what mixes I think are gonna work very well with this. So, if you want to know a bit more about Bounty, Keep Reading.
Right then, let's crack on with Bounty Spiced Rum, Bounty, not the chocolate bar, I love that chocolate bar, the chocolate and coconut, I love that, anyway, not the chocolate bar, this is another Rum brand from St. Lucia, St. Lucian distillers, the big famous Rums that come out of there, I've got their Spiced Rum, Chairman's Reserve, it's the same people, it's who they're responsible for. This was launched into the UK, big shout out to Dave, Dave Marsland, he gave me this little fact, I love this fun fact, this was launched into the UK market at the Notting Hill Carnival 2018, so it's been on the scene now for about a year, where are we, 14, 15 months or so now. But still, relatively unheard of in the UK.
Buy Bounty Spiced Rum online
Now without doing this a disservice at all, I would class this as an entry level Spiced Rum, compared to Chairman's Reserve which is probably for the bit more of the connoisseurs, the people that love a little bit more spice, and a little bit more Rummy-ness from the Rum. So this is their entry level, just to give you a rough price comparison, this is coming in at below £20, I actually picked this up, I think it was £18 now, I've had this a few weeks, but I think it was roughly about £18 including VAT. Chairman's Reserve is gonna be over that, it's about 24, £25 a bottle, so that's a bit of the sort of price comparison between them. However, that said, it is a Rum, it's a 40% Rum so it's not gone down the lines of your Bacardi, your Captain Morgan's, or anything like that, it's not below 35, it's a proper out and out 40% Rum.
Now the Rums in this obviously do originate from St. Lucia. They distil it over there, I didn't know this but actually the sugar cane molasses that they actually use to distil actually come from Guyana as well, so I didn't know that, I found that out from the website, so it's Guyanese sugar cane molasses that gets shipped over to St. Lucia. Now as I've just touched on the providence, as I say it's, distilled in St. Lucia, the Rum is aged for two years in bourbon barrels. We've got a little bit of, about it, a little bit of not marketing but a little bit of kind of more about this Rum, on the back of the bottle. So, I'm just gonna quickly read that, because that's the big difference between Rum and Spiced Rum compared to gin and things like that. We have got a little bit of info, on the back of the bottle. So, following the long tradition of St. Lucian Spiced Rum Bounty Spiced is an infusion of vanilla and cinnamon with macerated bark of Richeria Grandis locally known as the Bois, I can never say that, I'm really, really sorry, Bois Bande. It is claimed that the bark has potent qualities that gives the aged Rum a base of exotic and authentic Lucian Spiced Rum experience. And by potent, it actually means aphrodisiac, the locals kind of think Bois Bande is kind of a local aphrodisiac, and I love the final bit, very short, very simple, quotation marks on the bottom of the bottle, love this, "our island, our bounty."
So on the nose I get the big hints of vanilla on there, it does smell sweetish but, it smells very different to, when I say sweetish, to you Old J's and your Bacardi Spiced, and your Captain Morgan's, it's not quite that level but it has got this lovely sort of subtle sweetness going through it. Also get quite a little bit of citrus in there, bit of lime but I'm not getting too much kind of spice in that sense of the word, not getting too much vanilla, not too much cinnamon, or nutmeg, or anything like that, it's just vanilla with a little bit of citrus.
So, what does it taste like?
Well, in complete contrast to how it smells, how it tastes, the sweetness is really dialled back, in my opinion, this isn't sweet compared to most Spiced Rums, this is really well balanced. You get the little bit of sort of peppery heat coming through there, I get quite, I get the cinnamon now on the taste, I actually get quite a lot of ginger I think on there as well, the vanilla is there, the sort of sweetness from the citrus fruits has dialled down a little bit. This is a Rum lovers Spiced Rum. I really, really do like that, there's not an overwhelming sweetness to it, as it goes down, the sort of finish, I'm getting quite a few tropical notes coming through there, sort of, I can't really pinpoint it but sort of subtle hints of kind of Pineapple maybe, the sweetest citrus does kind of come through on the finish, that is just really, really lovely and if you are a short of traditionalist and you're not, you don't have an overly sweet pallet, this is a cracking Spiced Rum for you. And I tell ya, for less than £20 a bottle, this knocks absolute spots off Sailor Jerry, because I come back to Sailor Jerry, Sailor Jerry has got that sort of alcohol, ethanol aftertaste to it, it's really not pleasant these days. That just finishes superbly. Massive shout out, that is a really, really lovely, for £20, that is a really, really lovely Spiced Rum.
Right then, long mixed drinks, simple serves.
How are you gonna drink that?
Well, the obvious one, the two go-tos for any Spiced Rum, Coke and Ginger Beer. And that won't let you down with coke or ginger beer, it's very, very nice, however, my favourites were actually a little bit more fruitier, I think this works quite well with the other kind of Spiced Rum, or Rum mixers that are floating about at the moment. So, my first pick, my top pick with this, is Old Jamaica's Pineapple Soda. Now there is another brand of Soda, Pineapple Soda water, fizzy drink, a little bit sweeter, then Fentimans, which I'll come on to in a minute, but there is another brand, I think it's KA, it's kind of the black cans, I can't remember exactly what the brand is, because I can never, ever, ever find it, this is the Pineapple Soda, think in sweetness terms, think a Lilt without the Grapefruit, whereas Ting, let's come on to Ting as well, let's hold Ting up as well. So, Ting is my second choice. Ting is Lilt without the Pineapple, Old Jamaica Pineapple Soda is Lilt without the Grapefruit, so they've got that kind of sweetness to them. Now my third choice of mixer, this is Fentimans Tropical Soda, and when I say Soda, I kind of mean this in a proper sense of the word, it hasn't got the sweetness of this Pineapple Soda, it's kind of the wrong name for that, they should really give it a Pineapple, I don't know, Pineapple fizz but it's got a little bit more sweetness to it, than the Fentimans. Fentimans takes that sort of little bit of sweetness away so for those of you with a fruity pallet, but without the kind of massively sweet tooth, then this is definitely the mixer for you, I really, really like those two together but I have got a slightly sweeter pallet, that's why I do prefer the Old Jamaica, but that is such a great highball when you mix those two together. Also, for me, this was such a guilty pleasure as well, think Hurricane cocktail and that's probably the lines I'm going to go down with this to do the cocktails, think Hurricane, the Pineapple, the passion fruit Rubicon here, absolutely lovely. Little squeeze of lime, highball, nothing more complex than that, the passion fruit there has got this sort of subtle hint of sweetness, it's not going down the Pineapple route, I really, really love that.
Do you know, less than £20 a bottle, that has got to be one of your go to Spiced Rums just to have in your speed rail, on your back bar, on the top of the fridge, in your kitchen, just to have a little glug, amazing, love it.
Cocktails
Now don't forget my cocktail recommendations for this, as I've been saying in the last few videos now, hopefully you're kind of getting into the rhythm, they are on my Instagram stories, and then they get saved to my Instagram highlights. Go and check me out, on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/stevethebarman
Catch me next time when I'm taking on yet another, Spiced Rum.