Cruzan Single Barrel

Bottle purchased at Hy Vee. Pours medium gold in color. Mild aroma of caramel and toasted barley. Sweeter and thicker honey flavor than the Cruzan aged rum. A good mixer but not for neat sipping.

Nice and smooth. Great rum for its price point. Would buy again and again.

For the price, definitely a solid 8. Not sweet, not harsh, very dry and oaky. Earthy, just a hint of caramel, maybe even pecan?

One of my top three so far. Relaxing, even aroma and smooth flavor, great neat or mixed. Opens up even more (just beautifully) if let to breathe for a while in the glass. Starting in 2021, it is getting a bit difficult to find in stock anywhere in the U.S.

I am really impressed with this given the age statement. The bottle states it is a 5 year minimum, but it is far and away the best 5 year rum I've tried so far

Had this rum in my arsenal for a while, finally writing up a review for it. What can I say about this one? This is a pretty good column still run that’s shippable but I find it serves better as a mixer.

There’s not an off flavor to be had here and it makes a great daiquiri. Made plenty of great cocktails from this bottle since purchase.

But, I feel this thing is lacking anything distinguishing. The flavors that are there are clearly of high quality, but there’s just nothing “outstanding” about it (which is kind of the handicap of column still rums, but that’s another story). That’s what’s keeping this rating at a seven.

Having read some unfavourable reviews I was a little hesitant to buy this bottle, which retails for $40 (CAD) in my area. Those who prefer sweet rum probably won't appreciate this rum as much as I did. I found Cruzan Single Barrel to be well balanced and simply delicious.

UPDATE (2018-02-23): Have tried many different rums since I first purchased CSB, Recently opened another bottle as I hadn’t sampled this rum for over 6 months and as I said above, it is delicious. More an 8.5 rating than 8. Definitely will be keeping a supply of this rum on hand.

UPDATE (21-10-21): While the bottle design has changed twice since I first tasted this rum I find little or no difference with the new bottle design. This is not a top ten rum but I simply really like the flavours and the fact that it is so dry. The low price just adds to the charm of this offering by Cruzan distillery. If I could I would score this rum 8.5 to 8.6. In my books I will always keep a number of Cruzan Single Barrel in my rum inventory.

This is truly one rum you can enjoy sipping neat after dinner. It is smooth with exotic spices leaving a sweet aftertaste. Also excellent Cuba Libre.

Surprisingly full body and dark. A bit of pecan. Unfortunately, slightly bitter and almost sharp. Good. Expected more.

The old label used to state rums aged 5-12 years. The new label appears to just say minimum of 5 years. I do not know if the blend has changed or if only the wording has changed, I still have bottles with the old label and that is what I have tried so far.

This is one of the best mixing rums that is still pretty nice when neat. I'd let it sit for 5 min or so after pouring, helps a lot imo. Bit of spice, vanilla, caramel, and smoother than you'd expect for the price.

This obviously isn't as good as El Dorado 15, Flor De Cana 18, etc but it gets the job done. Should be easy to find under $30, and at that price is definitely better than most lineup's 8 year offerings.