Rum Review: Margaritaville Dark Rum

The second standard reference style: aromatic, robust and full flavored - it's absolutely dunderful. To our ships at sea! May they sink very slowly!
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How do you rate Margaritaville Dark Rum (5 is best)?

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Total votes: 1

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Capn Jimbo
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Rum Review: Margaritaville Dark Rum

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Margaritaville Dark Rum: Sweet Young Jamaican

In the Scuttlebutt section I lamented on the tendency of r(h)um snobs and certain websites to dump on lifestyle products, often without even tasting the rum in question. Now if such commentary was directed toward the many "tweaked" rums that contain unadmitted adulterants and flavorings, that might be fair.

As a result, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville rums didn't stand a chance. Distribution suffered, and few if any real reviews can be found. Now as it turns out, the good folks over at the Beverage Tasting Institute did indeed review this rum last year and it did surprisingly well, scoring a very credible "86". Not bad for what is surely a younger rum.

Now you'd think that here in south Florida, and on our many trips to yes, Key West, we'd be awash in all the Margaritaville rums. And we are - except for the dark. This is surely the result of the aforesaid negative buzz, and the tendency to position a Parrothead rum as a party mixer. Finally, leaving Duval St. we saw a pirate themed discount liquor store, and voila!

A lone bottle of Margaritaville Dark Rum. Paid more than I'd meant ($24 as I recall, but), but I've been on a crusade to find and review the dark, and a deal was struck.

Sue Sea:
Margaritaville Dark Rum come in a hefty traditional bottle with a lovely large, old worldly, islandy label featuring a faux leathery, weathered paper, compass, tall palm and island shrubbery. It does set the mood.

This rum is a deep red mahogany, as befits a "dark rum". Lots of caramel color in this one. Margaritaville presents a with a deep, sweet aroma, featuring leather, dunder, molasses, deep fruit - possibly plum, or raisin - all over a vanilla background. There is no doubt this is a Jamaican rum, as the label promotes.

The early palate reflects the aroma, with the sweet dark fruit that reminded me of dark bing cherry. The midpalate releases a heat that grows over the fruit and crecendos into late tones of cinnamon, ginger and a hot cinnamon clove, fairly short finish. I was left with a reflective aftertaste.

I see Margaritaville Dark Rum as an after dinner accompaniment to coffee and dessert. I have little doubt the Jack and Coke drinkers will transition nicely to Buffett and vanilla ice cream. Still, it's a sip-of-water rum that will require palate clearing. Personally, I find Margaritaville Dark Rum to be a little sweet for me, but it is still excellent and is totally delicious, exhibiting the Jamaican style with Barbadian balance.

A nice rum, different and memorable.
Me:

Sue Sea and I are in close agreement on this pleasant Jamaican rum. My first nosing was of a deep sweet molasses and leather. Dunder tones are apparent (keep in mind that dunder really represents a complex combination of a large number of congeners). I'd call the deep fruit a black plum.

The early palate is completely consistent and leads with a soft, smooth deep fruit. At the mid palate a growing heat becomes apparent, along with a growingly astringent leather, and finishing with a gingery, white pepper finish, and leaving a deep astringent sweet leather aftertaste.

Sweet and heat in balance can be quite pleasant, and Margaritaville Dark Rum achieves this. Is this rum too sweet? Maybe. Less experienced drinkers may like this, party hearties will too - but aficianados may reach for their water.

Bottom line: Margaritaville Dark Rum exceeds expectations. A must buy for Parrotheads and south Floridians.

Score (ten is best): solid 7.5.
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Beukeboom
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Post by Beukeboom »

For whatever it's worth I tried the Margaritaville Dark rum this evening. Apparently between 2010, the time of your review, and 2016 a lot has changed. The label now indicates it's a product of the Virgin Islands (doesn't specify whether American or British). The formula seems to have changed as well. It doesn't seem as sweet as your review indicates but it does have a marked spiciness to it. It's not as smooth as I expected it to be. Definitely has an edge. The aroma is pleasant. The flavor does give a little bitterness that I cannot readily identify. Not an oak tone per se but something else. It seems to have a bit of a dry finish. I am not partial to its flavor. Lacks complexity and just is kind of harsh.

A little too harsh to be a sipping rum IMHO but passable as a mixer. The BTI gave it an 86 in 2010. This is quite a different rum so I wonder if they will give an updated tasting.

Just my two cents...
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Great post B....


Let's face it. There are any number of made up labels, with made up rums and with made up monkey marketing stories. We bought ours on the basis that distillation in Jamaica - even the bulk producers - are fairly traditional and tend to be pot stilled.

But the Virgin Islands? Never. Ever. That Buffett's company feels that the rum consumer is so fackin stoopid that any supplier will do, without being noticed, shows their naivety. Power corrupts, and like today's politics the rum establishment's strategy of "We'll invent it, and they'll buy it" is so engrained they have not yet accepted that we - meaning the ever more knowledgable rum lovers - have left the barn...

And we aren't coming back. Readers, be SURE to read the label on any M-Dark you find...
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