There’s a sharpness to the nose that leans more towards candied ginger than Christmas spices with a bit of funk. The taste leans hard into the spiciness, with an orange zest brightness next to more funky old oak and plenty of sherried sweetness and plummy depths. The end fades very slowly and hits each note again as it warms your soul. This rum is a true cane-to-glass experience from the slopes of the San Cristobal volcano in Nicaragua. This particular expression is a marrying of rums aged up to 25 years in the shadow of that volcano and is proofed with mineral water bubbling up from the volcanic soil underneath. More Tasting Notes: Highland Park Dark Origins Single Malt | Taylor Fladgate 1964 Single Harvest Porto | Tasting Aberlour’s Full line This well-crafted expression is a marrying of Venezuelan rums aged in ex-bourbon and ex-single malt casks for up to 12 years. The rums are then hand-selected and hand-blended to find the perfect balance of taste and texture. The blend finally spends a year in sherry casks to give it that final note of ultra-refinement. There’s a real sense of the bourbon via notes of vanilla and toffee up top, next to an almost cognac fruitiness and nuttiness. The taste holds onto the vanilla as soft cedar enters the fray along with subtle Christmas spices, chewy and fruity tobacco, and a salted caramel edge. The finish embraces that savory-sweet aspect with more of the cedar and tobacco lingering on the slow fade.

This really needs a little time to open up on the palate. Let it bloom in the glass with a touch of water and take your time savoring each sip. Pusser’s Aged 15 Years Pussers This is one of those sips that make you say, “wow…” It’s just so goddamn easy to drink without water. It’s also a wonderful outlier on this list with all that cherry really bringing some brightness. Goslings Papa Seal Single Barrel Goslings The bourbon comes through with rich notes of oily vanilla and buttery caramel next to those deeper port notes of dried stonefruits next to marzipan with a hint of rose water. The palate builds on that by veering into a real sense of bright red cherries and chewy prunes stewed in Christmas spices with a sense of musty oak and more of that marzipan edging in. The end lightens to a velvet sip that’s perfectly rounded as the spice, cherry, and almond slowly fade out. There’s a clear sense of very dark, almost burnt molasses on the nose that’s counterpointed by a spicy tobacco smoke. The palate introduces orange oils next to the Christmas spices and plenty of bittersweet oak. A dried fruit edge arrives and really drives home the Christmas cake spiciness while all that oak and tobacco emboldens the finish’s slow fade.

The firm, known as Gosling and Son, was renamed Gosling Brothers. Three years later the first oak barrels of rum distillate arrived in Bermuda. After much experimentation in the blending process, the distinctive black rum destined to be Black Seal was formulated and offered for sale. Almost 150 years later, this same rum would go on to receive the coveted PLATINUM MEDAL at the World Spirits Championships.

Hints of bourbon vanilla, rich Christmas spice, marzipan, and an old cellar full of resting oak. A slight note of dark chocolate covered raisins arrives next to a clear note of orange oils as the palate holds onto the spice and vanilla at its core. The end mellows dramatically as the oak sweetens and that vanilla fades. Pure velvet.

This is the perfect post-meal digestif. It really feels like the ultimate winter sipper, especially when you get a little water in there to let it bloom in a big old snifter glass. Diplomático Single Vintage Diplomatico Musty oak sits next to a real rummy funkiness on the nose. The palate has a nice underbelly of Christmas cake with plenty of spice, dried fruit, and nuts that are counterpointed by that wood, funk, plus a hint of minerality. The finish is surprisingly short, sweet, spicy, and centered on the old oak barrels. The sip holds onto the spices, nuts, fruit, and tobacco the longest as a mild sense of cedar arrives on the end, with one of the slowest fades on this list.

In the spring of 1806 James Gosling, the oldest son of William Gosling, wines and spirits merchant, set out from Gravesend, Kent, England on the ship Mercury, with £10,000 sterling worth of merchandise, bound for America. After ninety-one desperate days on becalmed seas their charter ran out, and they put in at the nearest port, St. George’s, Bermuda. And the rest, as they say, is history. Delicious, deep, dark history.

On with a tasting. I’ll only be sipping this rum, (unless my previous visits to this rum were way off and I really need to mix it!). Sipped the Family Reserve is initially very sweet. On the tongue, especially you get sweet caramel and a chocolate mouthful initially. As the rum is swallowed bitter citrus notes are revealed. The rum is smooth but has spicy moreish notes. It leaves a dry mouth. The finish has a lot of oak and spice and the rum really coats the mouth. The finish gives way to bitter but warming notes. The rum strikes me very much as sweet winter warmer, rather than a sweet light Bajan summer rum for example. Master Blender Trudiann Branker hit it out of the park with this Barbados rum. The expression is a blend of rum aged for five years in Tawny Port casks that’s married to 14-year-old rums aged in ex-bourbon casks. That blend is then transferred to fresh Tawny Port casks for a final year of resting/finishing. The rum is then bottled at cask strength with no fussing whatsoever. This is a classy rum. It’s the standard Bermudian Goslings blend that spends a few extra years in the barrel. The rum is crafted to be a sipper that hints at both cognac and scotch. That’s why today — even in the dead of winter — we’re calling out some of the best expensive dark rums we’ve had the pleasure to have ever tasted. Ever.