Booze of the Week

Pyrat XO Reserve is a complex yet mellow blend of select Caribbean rums, aged up
to 15 years in French Limousin and American sweet oak barrels. Its handcrafted decanter is fashioned after relic rum bottles once hoarded by pirates and ship captains in the 1800s.

I’ll post my thoughts on this rum throughout the days under the fold.

First note about Pyrat: From searching reviews on the internet, it seems that most folks either love this stuff or absolutely hate it. There really doesn’t seem to be a middle ground for this one. So, with that in mind, I’m not going to suggest you buy a bottle without trying it yourself at a bar or whatnot.

First look: Nice color. Not as dark as most dark rums, kind of a middle ground between Gold rum and Dark rum.

Smells orangey (Firefox tells me that’s not a word). Also smells sweet.

First taste: pretty orangey. I sort of expected it as many of the other reviews mention the same thing. Smooth, but not very smooth. Its pretty polite to the throat, but not quite as polite to the nose. Very little “burn” for an 80 proof spirit.

Verdict: good, not great. too much orange, not enough molasses that you’d expect from a dark rum.

Update: much better on the rocks. I still don’t get the molassesy flavor but the cold subdues the orange a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Pyrat ain’t a good rum. For me, most rum is not something I’d drink straight. The Pyrat is definitely a rum that you can drink either neat or on the rocks. I’ll try a few mixers later maybe.

OK, this may seem blasphemous to some, but I just mixed Pyrat with Coke. There’s the molassy taste. Mixed with Coke the Pyrat has more of what you’d expect rum to taste like. There is still however a hint of orange.

All in all I think the best way (for me) was on the rocks. I went through about half the bottle last night. Today I have a bit more of a headache than I’m used to but otherwise feel fine.

When beefsalad gets back in town I’ll see if he wants to write a review as well.