Bayou Select

The Louisiana Spirit Company, makers of the Bayou rum line, released their Silver and Spiced rums in 2013. Located in Lacassine, Louisiana, they produce their rums using local sugar cane in an American copper pot still. Bayou Select is the creation of Master Distiller Jeff Murphy and Master Blender Reiniel Vicente.

The rum is aged in used American Oak Barrels for an unspecified amount of time before it is bottled. Each bottle has a batch number and is signed by the Distiller and Blender.

The bottle from this review is from batch number 1501.

Appearance/Presentation

The Louisiana Spirits Company uses a custom designed bottle for their Bayou line. The liquid in the bottle is dark brown with amber hues that only lightens slightly in the glass. Agitating the liquid forms a razor thin band that thickens then produces legs that descend quickly down the glass.

Nose

When I poured the rum in the glass the cloying sweet aroma of the rum filled the air. After I let the glass settle for about five minutes I detected notes of cocoa, oak and baking spices.

Palate

The first sip of rum ignites the tongue in a swirl of sugar, alcohol and charred oaks. As I continued to sip the rum I detected notes of cherry, roasted nuts, coffee, and liquorice. As the rum starts to fade the acidity of the oak notes takes over and dominates lingering into a medicinally dry finish.

Review

Some rums reveal their flavor profiles easily and others make you work for it. The latter was definitely the case with Bayou Select. Overall I found the flavor profile combative, with one sip having a robust cherry note, the next giving me more of the oak flavors and combined they just did not seem to play well together. Unfortunately what was consistent was the strong sugary baseline and the dominating acidity of the finish. At the end none of this worked for me. I would be curious to try this same spirit after it has been aged 7 to 10 years to see how the flavor profile has evolved and mellowed the oak tannins. I recommend using this spirit in a mixer in milk punch or eggnog but not as a sipper. During our experimentation we found that it played extremely well in creamy coffee and cocoa based cocktails.

Bayou is currently available across the South East United States. For more information about their product line please go to http://bayourum.com.

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