Kicking Mule Silver

Kicking Mule Rum is produced in Paulina, Louisiana,  at the River Road Distillery. They currently have four  expressions with a spiced rum pending approval. All of their rums are handcrafted in small batches using local Louisiana sugarcane molasses in their small custom stills. Their silver product is blended and bottled at 80 proof. The bottle for this review is from batch number two.

Appearance/Presentation


The squat 750 ml bottle is sealed with a black neck wrap. I pulled the tab and discovered a plastic cap securing a cork in the bottle. The white, blue and black labels provide a few details about the spirit. The liquid is clear in the bottle and glass. Swirling the liquid creates a medium size ring that spins off fast moving legs.

Nose


When I poured the rum a strong note of vanilla wafted up from the glass. I let the liquid settle and detected honey, almonds, with a slight hint of pepper as the alcohol vapors rounded it out.

Palate


The first sip of the rum surprised me with its well rounded vanilla laden crispness. There is a nice bite of alcohol at its core with notes of honey and apple taking the high notes and the almond and pepper notes popping and lingering into the finish.

Adding a little bit of water opened the rum up and introduced floral and citrus notes to profile while mellowing the pepper note and infusing some bitterness in the finish.

Review


Created in small stills, this rum has a lot going on and was a pleasure to explore. This has the potential to be a quality ingredient rum and the flavor profile would fit well in classic old world rum punch recipes and prohibition style cocktails.

Louisiana is currently home to at least four rum distilleries, making the state one of the leaders in craft rum distilleries. Kicking Mule is currently available in Louisiana and you can find out more about the company at their website.