Admiral Rodney 40% Royal Oak Golden Rum, 70 cl

Product Information

I’m not sure why exactly this is referred to as a limited edition, because it seems to have been a made into a permanent, premium part of the Chairman’s Reserve lineup for the last few years, but it’s not really important. What is important is the liquid in this bottle: The crown jewel of the St. Lucia Distillers collection, as far as I’m concerned. This is some absolutely lovely rum. I’m still going to add some cola to the rum. It makes a lovely rum and cola with a few ice cubes and only a small amount of cola. The fruitiness combines with the cola beautifully and the oakiness also adds something to the drink. It is certainly more characterful than most column distilled rums could ever hope to be and has been really well put together. This is quite a good introduction to “pure rums”– it shouldn’t offend palates more used to sweetened nonsense too much. The alcohol burn is there but overall this is a rather mellow sipping experience. The big brother of the Admiral Rodney is named for the titular admiral’s flagship, and the press materials say it is drawn “exclusively from the lowest portion of the Coffey still possible, resulting in a much heavier and more flavorful rum.” Like the Royal Oak, this is aged exclusively in American ex-bourbon barrels, but has a higher average age statement of 9-12 years.

Sipped it is quite sweet with a good hit of demerara sugar, raisins and toffee. It’s quite light but very well-balanced. The mid palate reveals a smokiness, alongside some nice spicy bourbon-esque notes – zesty lemon and a good balance provided by some slightly sweet tobacco/leather notes. Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum can certainly boast an interesting description, though, and an approachable price tag. According to the distillery, it begins with the base rum of the Chairman’s Reserve line—a mix of pot and column distillate, unlike Admiral Rodney—and is then “steeped with ‘Bois Bande,’ a local Caribbean bark culturally known for its aphrodisiac qualities.” Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum HMS Princessa. Regular readers should by now be familiar with Saint Lucia Distillers. We have featured all their Chairman’s Reserve range as well as all 6 of their annual 1931 series. We’ve also covered their Bounty Rum and one or two independent offerings. Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum was actually one of the first “Premium” rums I ever tried.I was able to taste four rums from SDL: Two from the Admiral Rodney line, and two from the Chairman’s Reserve line. With that said, let’s get to tasting. The rums in this blend are aged between 9 and 12 years. Maturation has occurred exclusively in Saint Lucia. So it’s a fully tropically aged rum. It has been produced on a Coffey Column Still. There are no Pot Still distillates in any of the Admiral Rodney rums to date.

Aside from the short finish I really enjoy Admiral Rodney HMS Princessa. It may be a little “simple” for some palates but I find it a good solid sipper with no off notes.The finish is really good with a hit of nail varnish and a really nice weight of oak spices ginger and some lemon zest. This has a really nice balance all the way through it.

HMS Princessa is the youngest blend in the series and Formidable the oldest. The line up will also be soon complimented by a “Cask Collection” limited edition rum. Saint Lucia Distillers were recently acquired by the “Groupe Bernard Hayot” who own Rhum J.M and Rhum Clement. It’s a very easy-going, well-balanced and very tasty rum. Do not worry that it is all column distilled – it still has a lot of character. The finish on this rum isn’t perhaps all it could have been though. It is quite short. Most of the flavour is delivered on the initial sip and mid palate. The finish fades quite sharply leaving behind only really some spicy oaky notes. It’s not a bad finish but it is a little short.This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. First up there are going to be 3 permanent releases in the Admiral Rodney rum range. This HMS Princessa is the least expensive of the line up. Admiral Rodney HMS Princessa is a blend of rums aged between 5 and 9 years. The rums in the blend come from Saint Lucia Distillers Coffey Column still. More specifically from the bottom plates of their 45 plate Coffey Still. Admiral Rodney comes housed in a sturdy cardboard presentation box. The bottle itself is a decanter style bottle. It has a huge wood and cork stopper. The presentation really is excellent. The rum looks expensive and anyone visiting will be drawn to THAT bottle and want to try some. There is no ageing statement on the bottle. Looking online I have learnt that the rum in this blend is up to 12 years old. So its pretty good aged stuff. The Admiral Rodney line of rums is named for a British admiral (George Rodney) who took part in the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, a pivotal naval engagement between the British and French. Each of the three expressions in this line fittingly take their name from one of Rodney’s ships: Princessa, Royal Oak and Formidable, with ascending age statements and price tags. All three are exclusively column-distilled rums, which means they’re somewhat lighter bodied than pot-distilled rums or blends of pot and column distillate, as is found in the Chairman’s Reserve lineup. Regardless, these rums have some decent age statements, and fairly high price tags as a result.