Those of us who love rums appreciate not just their tastes and aromas – we embrace their creation, their production, their history, and their origins.  It’s not by accident that Jamaica is considered one of the ‘mother countries’ for rum, and the Blackwell family is an integral part of that country’s rum and mercantile history.  Chris Blackwell, the famed originator of Island Records, carries on his family’s Jamaican heritage with the creation of Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum.      

A delightful dark rum produced by the Wray and Nephew distillery, I found it honest to its roots and heritage in both nose and palate. The color is rich with mahogany and amber tints.  The rum coats the glass with a full sheen, allowing multiple legs to coalesce and run.  The nose is luxurious and redolent of complex sugars, molasses, oak, ripe fruits and toasted coconut – you can really let this rum’s aroma entertain you.  The taste on the front is one of toasted sugars, citrus, cocoa, and old oak. Dark toast and cola present themselves in the middle, with a prolonged finish of coffee and a hint of golden syrup.  A blend of column and pot still rum, Blackwell is barrel aged for one year.

Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum is a great product, and welcomed in the USA.  Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates / DSWE, Blackwell is now available in California, Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, and Tennessee, but is also distributed nationally.  Look for it!