Clifton Estate Spiced Rum

Clifton Estate Spiced Rum has long been a curiosity for me as I have seen it brought home as souvenirs by friends and fellow rum connoisseurs. Then to my surprise, a bottle was given to me earlier this year and I am happy to share my findings with you.

The base rum for the product is a two year old rum sourced from Antigua. It is shipped to Nevis where the rum is infused with all natural ingredients and avoids using artificial flavoring or oils. After the infusion process, the rum is blended to 80 proof and bottled.

Appearance
he spiced rum is sold in a 500 ml barrel-shaped bottle, sealed with a synthetic cork and dipped in black wax to secure the bottle.
The rum is an orange hued copper color in the bottle and glass. When I swirled the liquid it produced thick bands that reluctantly dropped equally thick legs, after 30 seconds. Then for the next few minutes the bands produced another series of legs around the entire glass before finally beading up.

Nose

When I poured the liquid in the glass, cinnamon and orange notes wafted from the glass. After the glass had a moment to rest I discovered the vibrant orange note front and center, grounded by clove and other spices.

Palate
Due to the aroma I was not surprised that the flavor profile of the first sip was dominated by the fresh orange notes rounded out with the spice notes. The rum has an interesting mouth feel that carries a hint of warm honey at its base. Additional sips revealed those spices to be nutmeg, cloves, and a dark rich cinnamon. It is the cinnamon note that carries the rum as it fades with a nice long finish.

Review

I appreciate quite a few things about this rum. There is elegance to the balance of the natural flavor profile that lends it to succeeding where similar products that use other flavoring methods have failed. When visiting the island of Nevis, this is a product that is worth tracking down and bringing home as a souvenir.

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