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Posted
over 8 years ago
I was super impressed by the Kirk & Sweeney 12 Year Rum, so I bought their 18 and 23 year rums. Those are even better! What's more impressive is that they are both primarily based on sugarcane (agricole), which I've never cared that much for before these. The 18 is pretty close to the 23 in taste; in fact they're almost equal. The 18 is just a bit sweeter, while the 23 tastes just a bit more aged (much like the difference between the El Dorado 15 and 21). I like both sweet and aged, so I'm torn between the two. I'll give the 18 a very slight edge over the 23, just like I give the ED 15 a very slight edge over the ED21. But I definitely believe they are both very good. Vanilla, sugarcane, caramel, nutmeg, oak, and just a hint of sherry. The nose is incredible. You've GOT to try this!
Posted
almost 8 years ago
One of the best smelling rums I've had. Very sweet smell of butterscotch and vanilla. Not overbearing or heavy, just sweet and delicious. The first taste starts with a subtle essence of sweetness that is quickly followed by a distinctive agricole flavor of vegetable and grass. The finish is a nice caramel flavor that matches the aroma but accompanied by a sharp but short burn. Not my style of rum but I found myself continuing to sip it to experience the unique sweet and harsh flavor. Clearly a quality rum. The aroma alone will have me pouring another glass.
Posted
over 8 years ago
Kirk & Sweeney 12 year rum was one of the earlier premium rums I sampled on RumRatings. Less than a month after that I found a bottle of K&S 23 and rated it as well. Since then I've educated myself somewhat on rums and have K&S as one of my favorite brands. All three in the K&S line get a "9" from me. This one is simply delicious. Wonderful aroma. Beautiful amber color. And a outstanding flavor with vanilla, toffee, and even a butteriness to it. Very, very smooth with no harsh burn. Just a mellow warmth with oak tones that add no bitterness.
One day...perhaps soon...I'm going to line all three up and sip a little of each in order (12, 18, 23) just to see the differences between them. I'll try to remember to add to my reviews what I find. IMHO you cannot go wrong with any of the K&S rums.
Posted
8 years ago
Got this for Christmas and everything about this was wonderful. The bottle itself is just a great piece of art
Posted
almost 3 years ago
With ever increasing price of my favorite "neat" rum a store owner suggested I try Kirk and Sweeney, I saw there 23 year rum was nearly a $100 cheaper than my favorite 21 year rum so thought I'd give it a try, I liked that but decided to give their 18 year rum and was pleasantly surprised to find it just as smooth and a touch sweeter, giving it an excellent taste. I no longer buy the 23 year and have replaced my favorite $150 neat 21 year rum with this delicious 18 year. An enjoyable rich caramel flavor with slight nutty undertones and a good oak aged flavor. I recommend highly!
Posted
7 years ago
This is an amazing rum. The 18 year is sweeter, fruitier, and smoother going down than the 12 year which is itself an amazing rum. I love the taste this leaves on my lips after a sip. Not a mixer, don't waste this rum like that.
Posted
over 2 years ago
Sweet but not too sweet, vanilla, caramel, very smooth. A very nice sipper. The smell is oak, vanilla, old in a good way, different then other rums I've tasted, but pleasant. I enjoy this rum quite a bit, Can definately recommend.
Posted
6 years ago
The nose starts of with a rich butterscotch aroma. Followed with a buttery and floral smell. First sip has a touch of heat but that mellows quickly. The mouth feel is velvety and rich. Sampling between the 12, 18 and 23 year rums..the 18 is the sweet spot. I highly recommend.
Posted
3 years ago
Because I had a small tasting bottle. I'm kinda dissapointed. It wasn't a bad experience but I'm not amazed also. To short to be sure. A lot of vanilla and butterscotch at my nose. Very woody at the palate... Not very complex. I hope i will have a second chance with this one.
Posted
6 years ago
Úvodem trocha převzatého povídání okolo této značky:
"Kirk and Sweeney" byl název dřevěného škuneru, který byl vyhlášený v pašování rumu z karibské oblasti do Spojených států během prvních let Velké Prohibice v USA. Obvykle těsně předtím, než vplul do vod Spojených států, škuner Kirk and Sweeney zakotvil na tzv. „Rum Line“ (okraji vod spadajících do jurisdikce USA) a prodával rum menším lodím, které zastavily po jeho boku Menší lodě byly rychlejší a ovladatelnější než flotila pobřežní stráže a pašovaly pak rum na břeh. Legendárnímu škuneru se stal osudný rok 1924, kdy byl pobřežní stráží zajat s velkou nakládkou skvělého karibského rumu, poté přejmenován na „Chase“ a až do pozdních 40.let sloužil potřebám US Coast Guard.
Rum je vyráběný z té nejlepší, ručně sklízené čerstvé cukrové třtiny v malých šaržích a zraje v amerických dubových sudech minimálně po dobu vyznačenou na láhvi, tedy celých 18 let (nejedná se tedy o typičtější metodu Solera).
Alkohol: 40 %
Původ: Dominikánská republika
Aroma: Kůže, nasládlé koření, kapky proti kašli, skořice, hřebíček, lékořice, včelí plástve. Aroma není zrovna mohutné, vůně mi přijde trochu uzavřená. (85 b)
Chuť: Vcelku suchý, hodně vystupuje broušená kůže, trocha koření, hřebíček, včelí plástve. V dochuti větrovost, dřevo a tmavá čokoláda. (87 b)
Body: 86/100
Shrnutí: Ochutnán vzorek koupený v českolipském baru Egypt. Příjemný rum, pohodový, relaxační. Doma mám lahev jeho dvanáctiletého stájového kolegy.
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Giving K&S another try
6
/10
out of 10
The younger brother to this rum is K&S 12 Year and was one of the very first rums that I reviewed on this site. I was very impressed at first, especially for it being so cheap. Then after three weeks, flavors of leather dominated. At that point, I bid farewell to K&S. I also figured that most of the cost goes into the fancy bottles, so that had me wondering just how cheap was the rum inside.
I have decided to give them a second chance with this 18 year old dry rum. The aroma is caramel with a faint hint of leather. On the tongue, it is peppery and thin because of only 4 gpl of added sugar. The after taste is caramel with a faint hint of leather and some complex Caribbean spices. There is no after burn. So far so good. I will check it again in about 3 weeks to see if the same thing happens to this one as what happened to my long gone 12 year old.
Update October 15, 2018: This is a good day for rum tastings since it is pouring down rain outside. It is now one day shy of the three week window that I had originally promised to allow. Guess what? This bottle has not turned into a leather bomb like the K&S 12 did. It is still very enjoyable and worthy of it's 8 rating that I originally gave it.
Update April 22, 2019: For fans of this K&S 18, the aroma and taste is very similar to South Bay Batch 18, also from the Dominican Republic. However, the after taste of the South Bay blows the woody after taste of this one out of the water. Give that one a try if you like this one. I have to special order my supply of South Bay rums to be picked up locally, but they are worth the trouble.
Update May 7, 2019: For those of you who still have the old bottles of K&S with them being widest at the top, KEEP THEM as they will soon become collector's items!!! The new bottles are totally round and look like rum versions of Chambord Liqueur. I kid you not! I at first criticized my bottle of K&S 12 as being hard to pour and needing two hands. At least the cork fits tight and the bottle is unlikely to spill on a rocking boat out to sea! After having a lot of very bad rum bottle designs, those original K&S bottles are for keeps! Hang on to them. I also dropped my rating down to a 7. It just cannot compare with the best of my similarly priced rums.
Update August 7, 2021: I grabbed another bottle of K&S 18 since the ones with yearly statements are now discontinued in favor of the Gran Reserva solera rums. I thought that I was doing good by grabbing one of these last bottles. Well, something has obviously gone wrong with their age statement rums. After sipping on it and those good memories did not return, my dog did not even want to come near me!!! On top of that, I needed a corkscrew to remove the cork and then had to throw it away. I have a large collection of replacement corks, but none of them fit. I had to transfer the entire contents to one of my favorite old bottles. Needless to say, my rating now gets dropped. No point in saying that I will never buy these aged K&S rums again because they are now all gone. This is a really sad downhill slide from a once really good company.