Kirk and Sweeney 23-Year

It is a fine rum to sip on with a good buddy, but for the price I expected way more out of it

I thought this would be significantly smoother on the finish but was a bit harsher than expected.

Karamel, melasa, trtinovy cukr a to vse v lehkem havu. Prazdna dochut. Komercni styl kde stipne alkohol. Nic,co chcete opakovat.

Having tried their 12 and 18 year olds, I finally got around to trying this 23 year old. It reminds me of the 18 year old except I don't notice any leather and the wooden notes are ever so slightly more. This one is also $7 more than the 18 year old, so flip a coin to see which one you prefer on any given day. Just stay away from the 12 year old. I still recommend the 18 Year as the best buy from them.

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 a very bad rum bottle designs, those original K&S bottles are for keeps! Hang on to them.

Update August 7, 2021: This is a sad day for a once proud rum distiller. Just read my update for the K&S 18 to see why my rating has dropped.

Has an after bite to it. Would prefer smoother going down. Almost acidic. not quite. Defers the taste.

There has been a re-branding and all age statements have disappeared. Someone also brought me what once was a 12yo but which has also been changed to 12 Reserva, with any reference to spending 12 years in wood now gone.

When I first opened the bottle, it was rich, smooth with decent initial length which unfortunately disappears too soon. Possibly would benefit being bottled at 43% rather than 40%. Would also like to try with no added sugar, but it hasn't been over done. If the length was longer and less sugar added, then I could see this being a 9.

But, and it's a big but.....

The bottle has been open for a couple of weeks now, and the rum hasn't opened up. Quite the opposite. It's OK but lacks sophistication, weight and pretty much any class. The main problem I have with it, is the price for what you get. It's not good value for money.

And my main test of a rum.....would I but it again? I'm afraid to say it's an emphatic "no", and I'm finding myself drinking it as quickly as I can just to get rid of it. Quite what I do with it's younger sibling the 12 Reserva, is anyone's guess as that really is disgusting.

Duften er super god, men smagen er meget skuffende bestemt ikke en rum jeg ville købe, hvis jeg havde prøve smagt den først...

For a $50 bottle of 23 year aged rum with an 8.4 rating I popped the cork on the neat looking bottle expecting greatness. The aromas came across as simple and underwhelming but that did not mean much because first aroma isn’t indicative of full taste. Alas when I took a sip the taste was the same as the aroma. I have since gone back for a second visit and the experience is the same. Compared to the sea of rums, it is not terrible and it is definitely drinkable, but it has nowhere near the complexity or smoothness demanded of an 8.4 rating. Zafra, Plantation XO, and Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva are all far, far superior in the same price range. I even find Barcelo Imperial superior to this...and that just should not be happening with a $50 bottle of 23 year aged rum.

*Update August 2020* This rum definitely doesn't come close to the good sipping rums in my cabinet, and so I have been using it to mix with. It is a great mixing rum that adds a nice round caramel taste to whatever you are making. For example, it is excellent in a Painkiller and adds a nice bit of character to that drink. Still...I am not about to drop $50 again for a mixing rum when there are other rums just as good to mix with for 1/3 the price.

Looking at older reviews, I am beginning to suspect that they may have gone "Zaya" and changed the process with this rum, but that's only a guess reading other's tasting notes and comparing them to mine.

Tried this instead of my favourite El'Dorado 21. Wasted my money, harsh and not a lot of flavour for the age.

Vanilla, cinnamon, tobacco, leather, citrus, banana, apricot, cherry. I don't find it much different from the 12yo, but it is smoother with a nice finish.
Coming back to this it now seems bland.