Denizen Merchants Reserve 8-Year

Sipped - neat
Jamaican and Martinique rums, 8 YO
Nose - medium
In mouth - bold aged gold rum with grassy linger
Mouth linger - slightly sweet, very pleasant
Blended for a one rum Mai Tai, and am anxious to mix one shortly.

OK, here's the mixed Mai Tai cocktail (30% ABV before ice shaking). Added Whaler's for the woody funk. Smooth and easy drinking,,,

2 Denizen 8 YO (Jamaican-Martinique 86 proof)
½ Whaler's (Kentucky 80 proof)
¾ Pierre Ferrand orange curacao (France 80 proof)
¾ lime juice
½ Giffard's orgeat (France)
Lime wedge squeeze

This comes close to my favorite rum combination for a mai tai, if somewhat flatter. I have yet to find a better combination than 1:1 Appleton 12-year and Ron del Barrilito 3-Star. This has that same combination of refined column still flavors (toasted oak, vanilla, etc.) plus raw Jamaican pot still funk. However, while the initial taste of the Denizen is a good match, it lacks the delicious, lingering finish of the above combination.

While it's formulated with the help of Martin Cate specifically for the Smuggler's Cove Mai Tai, do take note that you'll want to bump up the amount of orgeat in the standard recipe to balance out the lack of finish. I personally use 2 oz rum, 1/2 oz orgeat (up from 1/4 in Martin's recipe), a heavy pour of 1/4 oz mai tai syrup (basically demerara syrup + vanilla extract); 1/2 oz orange curacao; and 3/4 oz lime juice. You can use a bit more of the syrup if you prefer a sweeter & more vanilla-y mai tai, but I wouldn't go over 1 oz of lime juice as it overpowers the rest of the flavors.

You can't really beat the price of this bottle at about $30. However, if you're willing to shell out a bit more, you can get Ron del Barrilito 3-Star for about $35 and Appleton 12-year for about $40; that means the average price for your Mai Tai is about $37/bottle, so only $7 more than a bottle of the Denizen. (As a bonus these 2 bottles form a really great base for a ton of tiki drinks - Zombies, Jet Pilots, Coronado Luau Special, and on an on.....)

Having said that, if you're looking for an all-around good mixing rum with a good bit of Jamaican funk plus some of the more refined flavors you find from Spanish-style column stills, you can't go wrong with this. It's not much more than your average bottle of random "gold" rum, and it has a ton more character.

I've only ever made Mai Tai's with this rum, since that is what it was specifically made for.

This is a rum I continue to revisit. The mix of Jamaican and agricole is finely tuned if unspecific in both categories. Vanilla bean and just a hint of mint and parilla. Lovely stuff.

I've completely revised my opinion of this rum after learning it's pedigree. For strict traditionalists, nothing will ever replace the 17 yr old J. Wray and Nephew rum used by Vic Bergeron for the original Mai Tai. After exhausting supplies of 17 and later 15 yr old, Vic experimented blending his own rums to approximate the flavor of the original rum. He settled on a blend of Jamaican and Martinique rums. One word of correction to some reviews here. The Martinique rum Vic used was not the strict AOC Agricole, but an aged molasses based rum. Denizen sought to recreate this blend, and has done so admirably. This is the closest you will get to the original Mai Tai flavor.

It really smells like bananas. Also it has a pleasant finish ! Very recomendable