Review – Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum

image courtesy of Bacardi

Let’s Get this out of the Way- The Disclosure:

I was very lucky to receive a sample bottle of the newly released Bacardi Oakheart Rum, which debuted this past September.

Oakheart is a blend of Bacardi Superior Silver rum and Bacardi gold, with added spices of  maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, vanilla and caramel. The final product is then filtered and left to mellow 1-3 years in charred oak barrels.

The Visuals:

light amber color, leaves a trace amounts of “legs” on the side of the glass

The Nose:

Strong vanilla, oak and caramel, a hint of the characteristic “baking spice” as you would expect in a  spiced rum. Detected a bit of the maple as well.

Taste:

Smooth. Vanilla, slight bit of black pepper, mellow oak. Rum heat definitely present, but not overpowering. Spicy (almost cinnamon?) finish.

Pricing Details:

MSRP: $12.99-$15.99 for a 750-ml bottle

35% alcohol by volume

Applications:

Bacardi is heavily marketing it as a perfect Rum & Coke rum (which they dubbed “Oak & Coke”) and I think it would pair nicely as such. It might also work well in a rum-based Bloody Mary (similar to the one the folks at Sailor Jerry concocted for Tales of the Cocktail 2011).

“Real World” Tasting Notes:

We had the opportunity to feature Bacardi Oakheart at a recent tasting for team-members, friends, co-workers, friends of friends, etc. and here are some of the comments we received on the product. Age ranges included 25-60 somethings:

• Smells sweet + light, yellow brown color – eye pleasingly bright. Very smooth, nice burn
• pleasant, but not wonderful smell. tastes like its missing something
• not a spiced rum fan, but this was smooth. could not pick up a smoky taste.
• smell – like rum. visual – dark. taste – smooth, but missing “something”.
• smooth. not much burn. great rum!
• nice bouquet