Reader Review: Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve (Foursquare)

Barbados: the defacto home of the original reference classic rum as we know it. God bless the Queen! And Mount Gay!
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How do you rate Rum Sixty Six (5 is best)?

5
0
No votes
4
2
67%
3
1
33%
2
0
No votes
1
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 3

Stefan
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Reader Review: Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve (Foursquare)

Post by Stefan »

Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve - Barbados

I got curious about the rums of R.L. Seale (Doorly's, RL Seales, Foursquare and others?) after reading the praise of his rums on Jimbo's rum project and other sites. I have bought Doorly's XO and Rum Sixty Six to see what I think about them. I am a bit nervous about this because the same people that have praised his rums also praised the Mount Gay XO that I did not like at all... I hope all Barbados rums don't taste like that! I will retry the MGXO some other day and see if I like it better but I really hope R66 tastes different.

The bottle is rectangular and quite stylish but not exactly premium looking. Nevermind, I prefer the content to be of high quality rather than the packaging. There is only a small label on the front with the rest of the text printed directly on the bottle. The bottle have a cork stopper with a plastic top. Practical yes, fancy? Not very.

The rum is golden in colour and oily in viscosity like a thin lubricating oil. It got thick slow moving legs for people that are into that. I much prefer ladies legs myself but that is a discussion for another place and time.

The smell is slightly sweet with some alcoholic prickling in my nose. The smell kinds of hints at fruits of some kind (probably drenched in alcohol but still...), I wish I could pick out a lot more to say about the smell but there are far more professional reviewers for that. Even if I got a huge nose it seems to be sub standard in performance.

The taste is less sweet than I expected even if there is sweetness. To me it have a "whisky taste", is that the oak barrels? After the first few sips the primary alcoholic stings have disappeared but there is still a slight burn when swallowing. Maybe a single ice cube would remove that burn? It actually tastes quite ok, but is not all that powerful so maybe the ice would kill it. In the name of science or something I decided to try and dropped a big chunk of ice in the glass. The ice did take out that burn, sadly it also removed a lot of the flavours so I don't think I will do that again.

So what did I think of it? I would score it at 3/5 I think, I will need a few more tests before I really make up my mind. It's absolutely ok but maybe not as smooth as I would like it to be. It did taste a lot better than I remember the MGXO so maybe there is still hope for Barbadian rum.

Will I buy a new bottle when this one is finished? That is the real grading... The answer right now is probably not since there are so many other promising rums I want to taste. Chances are that my opinion might change on my long travel ahead towards the bottom of the bottle. If it does I will (hopefully) update this sorry excuse for a review.

Link for more info on the rum: http://www.tastersguide.com/index.php?o ... &Itemid=30

If you are not flash allergic and want to have a look at the real thing, the official site is here: http://www.rumsixtysix.com/.
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The Black Tot
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Post by The Black Tot »

I bought a Rum Sixty Six over in the UK this time.

My review gave it a solid and probably conservative 4.

This rum is for people who like a caramel tasting rum - oily, as Stefan pointed out.

This for me is my guilt-free Zacapa substitute. They don't taste the same, but the 66 satisfies with great aplomb my desire for a caramel flavored rum, all while feeling well chuffed for directly supporting the Seales, and smug in my awareness that I'm tasting genuine Bajan rum without additives.

I wish it was cheaper, but that's the worst thing I can say about it. I'll be buying more for sure. Mrs Tot loves it as well.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Tot, FWIW Seales' sole use of "caramel" is in the form of E-150a caramel coloring. It's important to note that E-150a is NOT at all a flavoring, but is actually a sugar that has been nearly burnt to a crisp, to the point that it is very, very bitter and black in color.

Fortunately, it is so potent that only a few drops of it are sufficient to adjust the color of the spirit, so that we - the drinkers of it - are thankfully unaware of it. If it's made by Seales, you can be sure there is no flavoring, caramel or otherwise.

Please don't confuse caramel-based coloring with food caramel (which is VERY sweet and concentrated and WILL flavor a rum). One of the ways other distillers cheat is to use larger amounts of dark food caramel (not coloring caramel) to add both color AND flavor.

Seales the exception. Coloring only.
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Post by dawsonh »

In the single malt world there seems to be plenty of options for natural color (no E-150 added) and non-chilled filtered spirits, stated on the bottle, so we get all the flavor and mouth feel, and nothing added. I like that option and would support a rum maker that did the same.

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Post by Dai »

dawsonh wrote:In the single malt world there seems to be plenty of options for natural color (no E-150 added) and non-chilled filtered spirits, stated on the bottle, so we get all the flavor and mouth feel, and nothing added. I like that option and would support a rum maker that did the same.

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The Black Tot
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Post by The Black Tot »

For the record, I didn't suggest that the Seales put any flavoring agents in Rum Sixty Six.

I was trying to say they have done a remarkable job of delivering a genuine and natural barrel-derived sweetness profile which is really fantastic. AND the right way to do it.

I apologize if that wasn't clear. Perhaps I should have said more than "genuine Bajan rum without additives".

Is the C word (caramel, in this case) a dirty word, even as a taste descriptor?
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Tot...


You raise a great point, ie. "caramel" as coloring vs caramel as flavor (or aroma). This is a fair distinction and I think you are quite right insofar as the latter usage. Our belief is that we call caramel flavor can be achieved via cheating by using unlabelled dark food (sweet) caramel as both a flavoring and coloring agent, but can also be conceived honestly - via a sort of combination of the vanillan and wood sugars provided by the barrel, ie good cooperage and aging and thus which is perfectly valid.

Nice review, thanks. I'd really like to try this one.
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dai
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Post by Dai »

Don't recall the caramel taste in the rumfest last year but I do recall it being a nice rum. Come to think of it don't recall a lot late afternoon of the rumfest definitely don't remember eating in MacDonalds. Ah the joy's of rum festivals. I think my next purchase shall be Rumm66 been wanting to get some for a while.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

A change...


Just added a "no vote" option to this review for those who haven't or won't try this rum, but do want to see the results of the voting. Why I never thought of this before is just another result of being the Compleat Idiot of Rum.

Remember, if you do exercise a "no vote" you cannot vote again later...
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Post by mamajuana »

Capn Jimbo wrote:A change...


Just added a "no vote" option to this review for those who haven't or won't try this rum, but do want to see the results of the voting. Why I never thought of this before is just another result of being the Compleat Idiot of Rum.

Remember, if you do exercise a "no vote" you cannot vote again later...
There is a small link under the vote button to see results without voting. That being said I would love to try this rum and see how it compares to the Real McCoy 12 year also from foursquare aged 12 years.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Ouch...


I told you I was the Compleat Idiot, and obviously for good reason. Thanks for the observation; how I missed this all these years is beyond me - or obviously not, lol. I too would like to try this rum and also against the rums you named.
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Post by mamajuana »

Capn Jimbo wrote:Ouch...


I told you I was the Compleat Idiot, and obviously for good reason. Thanks for the observation; how I missed this all these years is beyond me - or obviously not, lol. I too would like to try this rum and also against the rums you named.
I have been a long time user of this type of software. That said I too at times seem to have issues with idiocy. I just found out something. My drinking glass that I tend to fill to the top I thought at first was just 2oz. Then I measured it and realized one day it was actually 2.5 oz. Then today after I got beaker for measuring I poured my glass into it and realized it was actually 3 oz! So yeah it happens. Now I realized I have been actually drinking a steady 9-12 oz of rum most days instead of 6 or 7.5. woops....
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