Rum-Bar Gold

Rum-Bar Gold rum is produced at the historic Worthy Park Estate on the island of Jamaica. Worthy Park began growing sugarcane in 1720 and producing rum in 1741 making it the oldest operating rum company in the country. For a brief period of time the company ceased operation until the Clarke family decided to revive the business.
In 2005 they opened a new state of the art facility that pipes the molasses, one kilometer from the sugar factory to the distillery. They ferment and then distill it in Scottish Forsyth Copper Pot Stills.
Rum-Bar Gold is aged for four years in used American White Oak Bourbon barrels and blended to 40% ABV before bottling.

Appearance
The rum has an amber-golden color in the bottle that lightens slightly in the glass. Swirling the liquid creates a thin band that slowly thickens releasing one or two equally thick legs before beading up and evaporating.

Nose
I poured the rum in the glass and a strong banana note arose from it. After I let the liquid settle for a few minutes, I discovered notes of vanilla, allspice, cherry, peach and green apples.

Palate
The first sip of the rum wraps the tongue in a swirl of vanilla, alcohol and fruit flavors. Additional sips slowly reveal banana and green apple notes, light oak tannins begin to manifest along with baking spices, charred notes and hints of cinnamon and minerals. Sweet molasses notes round out the experience as the flavors combine to form a delicious profile that creates a fruit forward spirit reminiscent of fruit custards or pies.

Review
Before this review I had the rum a few times in cocktails, but never neat. After this experience I understand why some people enjoy sipping it as I found its flavor profile very approachable with a comfortable level of funk. I have also enjoyed it in a wide variety of Classic and Tiki rum cocktails and recommend experimentation as the fruit flavors in the spirit marry well with a lot of fruit cocktail ingredients.

Distribution in the United States is slowly rolling out this year. Monitor the Worthy Park web site and social media accounts for more information.

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