Sugar Skull Tribal Rum

In August I found myself walking through my local liquor store looking for something to review for the October issue. Seeing a multi color sugar skull in the rum section was the last thing I expected to find. The shop owner tells me “hey, that’s Master P’s rum, let me know what you think”. If Kenny Chesney can do it, why not Master P? Intrigued I went home and started looking for information about the rum.
The musician, Master P is the primary backer of the rum and has collaborated with basketball teams and NASCAR to promote the rum line. The rums in the blends are sourced from multiple distilleries across the Caribbean. The rums in the blend are created using fermented molasses and come from column still distilleries with flavors added when it is blended to 40% ABV. So far the Sugar Skull line has released five different expressions with Taliera, Inc. handling sales, marketing and distribution.
 Appearance

The 750 ml flask shaped bottle has a huge multi-color sugar skull on the front with details on the back. The rum is filtered clear. When I swirled the liquid, a thin line formed around the glass that beaded up quickly, thickened and dropped fast moving legs.
 Nose

The aroma of the rum provided light fruit notes, sweet vanilla and a subtle chemical twang.
 Palate

The rum provides a swirl of vanilla, soft berry notes that are flattened slightly by baking cocoa with the alcohol notes taking over and dominating the palate with a bittersweet finish.
 Review

In the press information and on the back of the bottle the company states the rum has “slight essence of cocoa and vanilla”. The vanilla is the strongest flavor in the rum, with the cocoa and fruit notes almost an afterthought. It is a no-brainer that this rum is engineered to be used in cocktails and the website offers plenty of island inspired cocktail recipes. For example, the Tribal Silver is recommended for a Piña Colada. The Sugar Rum line has four other flavors: Mystic Vanilla, Native Coconut, Hellfire Cinnamon and Wildberry.
When reviewing flavored rums, the main question I ask is “Did the company achieve their goal?” The answer in this case is a sold yes. If you want a flavored rum with simple nuances that augment the flavor profile of a cocktail, this might be just the spirit you are looking for.

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