[Rum Log] Pyrat Rum XO Reserve

Rum: Pyrat Rum XO Reserve
Age: 15 year blend
Price: $30
Region: Caribbean rums, bottled in British West Indies
Proof: 80

Apparently making good (LOT) tequila wasn't good enough for Patrón - they decided they needed to make high-end rum as well! As it turns out they also felt the need to put said rum in really cool boxes that look like books, and thus we couldn't resist picking up some to try out - if only for the cool box and the novelty of being able to hide our alcohol in the library.

The Pyrat (yes, pronounced pirate) rum is a blend of Caribbean rums, up to 15 years in age. Getting into the bottle was both fun and challenging - first we had to untie a festive orange ribbon, then remove a plastic seal, then pull off the paper seal (while noticing the official hand-written bottling number). After that we had to examine the lovely medallion of Hoti (the Zen patron saint and protector of fortune tellers and bar tenders), and resolve that our next addition to the home network will now have a name. Finally we had to break out the pliers to get the gods-damned cork out. The previous steps were fun though!

The color is a light butterscotch (described as toasted apricot on the bottle). It swirls nicely with an ice cube without getting cloudy. My first impression of the smell was the lovely nose of rubbing alcohol; luckily this faded with a bit of air, so I was less turned off. Once the unpleasant scent faded, a more flowery scent was revealed. And I do mean flowery - we're not talking red wine "flowers" we're talking, like gardenia flowery. There are also hints of brown sugar, vanilla, and cloves.

The taste of the rum is a lot like the smell. Predominantly it tastes of vanilla-coated candy flowers with quite a big kick of lemon. There's also a hint of smooth, cool honey. The flavour improves vastly with some ice to mellow it out, and it has a very soft, wet feeling in the mouth with absolutely no sting or burn. It's very easy drinking, and has little aftertaste other than "cool and refreshed."

Tasting Pyrat provided a lot of review fodder, but I don't think we'll be buying another bottle. We have the cool box now, and plenty of other more subtle liquors to drink.