Rum Review: Brinley's Gold Coconut Rum

Are these real rums? Is a chocolate flavored Bistec de Palomilla a steak? Maybe. Some are of lower proof. Some use real flavoring. And as for some, may we never drink worse than this!
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How do you rate Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum (5 is best)?

5
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3
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Total votes: 2

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Capn Jimbo
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Rum Review: Brinley's Gold Coconut Rum

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Brinley's Gold Coconut Rum: Fresh shaved coconut and home grown pineapple...


Sue Sea and I are not real fans of flavored rums. The reason should be obvious: the majors like the Captain, the Bat rums and Cruzan are interested in quantity and profit, and manufactured taste - not really quality. Accordingly their "flavored rums" - think Batshit Dingleberry - are really cheap, mass produced, thin column stilled rums, made palatable with all manner of artificially tasting flavorings, smoothers, glycerol, and sugar.

Pretty awful.

Brinley is the exception; indeed Brinley's Gold Coffee Rum was our third purchase and it was wonderfully authentic and delicious. Although some reviewers find some of the Brinleys on the sweet side, this is according to island tastes. It works fine for us, thank you. We also reviewed the Vanilla and it too was terrific and displayed perhaps even more coffee than the Brinleys of that name.

At a point we had to know how this was achieved, so I wrote Brinleys...

To my great surprise I received a long personal email from Zach Brinley, who confirmed the use of aged rum blended with absolutely natural and authentic spices and flavors, and openly shared their process. Indeed, you'll find that the Brinley's rums are not crystal clear, as such filtering would remove too many of these natural spices - you can actually see a small spice residue in the bottles. And this from a company principal, not some hired PR chickie.

At a later date, I owed a fellow employee a gift and decided to favor her with a bottle of their Coconut Rum, hoping to learn how she'd like it. Unfortunately, she is not a rum drinker and offered little detail beyond "I really liked it!".


The Purchase and Review

Let's start here. Except for coconut water, I'm really not a coconut person, never have been. Although Sue Sea loves macaroons, count me out. But put a fine coffee rum like Brinley's 4 year or Ron Santero's 7 year in front of me, and I'm toast. I grew up close to the Carribean, South America and the coffee business. But coconut??

Are you nuts?

Still, after many months of avoidance I finally bought a bottle of Brinley's Gold Coconut Rum. Why? First, because of the forementioned dialogue with Zach Brinley and last - I was just plain curious to see what Brinley's could do with coconut, perhaps the most common symbol of our tropical Paradise. Basta! The envelope please...

Sue Sea:
I must be honest and allow that I've been fighting a head stuffing virus for a few days, but when Jim presented a new Brinley's rum in one of their tall and lovely clouded glass bottles, I thought a nice dram might be just what the doctor ordered. It was Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum.

Unlike Jim I do like coconut, but like him I too despise the artificial dreck that seems to dominate the shelves. But having had nothing but positive experiences with Brinleys I hoped for yet another authentic experience.

I could not have been more surprised.

I'd found the Brinley's Vanilla and especially the Coffee terrific, but the Coconut was not even in the same class. At first nosing the Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum simply knocked me out, and I mean in a very good way. The aromas were rich and delightful: fresh grated coconut, vanilla, toasted macaroon, and bit of high citrus, perhaps a grapefruit or lemon. Oh, and later a tiny tad of sweet milk chocolate.

Lovely!

Now please allow me to interject here and say this: if you told me that someone had just shaved some absolutely fresh picked coconut into my glass, I would have believed you. This Brinleys is absolutely the most authentic flavored rum I have ever had. I was expecting good. I was not expecting anything close to this great.

The taste too was completely consistent and equally authentic. Rich and sweet with a very early appearance of sweet balancing heat, a combination of a glowing white pepper and sweet clove. My goodness! It was but moments until Jim and I proceeded to shout out and emote about how surprised and pleased we were with a flavor that we'd ordinarily not buy.

However, as we continued to explore the Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum, we both agreed there was an element or two that was eluding us. A bit of milk chocolate? Yes. High citrus? Yes, possibly lemon or grapefruit. I thought too of lime, but Jim disagreed. Then it hit me: "This tastes like our home grown pineapple"! And indeed it did (more about this unique taste from Jim, below).

For me the Brinley's Coconut was an inspiration, one that simply dare you to go beyond sipping it.

I believe that Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum can be used or enjoyed in many ways, in fact it is the kind of rum and taste that actually inspires you to do so. With ice, with milk, in icing, over ice cream, as a desert rum, with coffee and cream. I want to use it in baking, or as a smashing component of whipped cream over pie. This rum simply begs me to play with it in the kitchen. Lovely. I rarely would advise anybody to buy a particular rum, but I have to make an exception for Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum.

Buy it. You won't be sorry.
Me:

Do you think Sue Sea really liked the Brinley's, lol? She loved it, and frankly so did I. First though, let me admit that anything labeled coconut would be the very last flavored rum I'd ever buy. So even though it was a Brinley's, I wasn't expecting much.

I was proven wrong.

Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum presents as a clear but not brilliant white, with not unexpected and serious slow legs. The nose is clear and unmistakeable. Fresh cut, rich sweet coconut, with a nice high citrus element. And I do mean authentically, really and truly fresh. Believe me you have never, ever tasted coconut like this. There is no comparison with ordinary, artificially flavored products; it is literally night and day. The palate was also surprising as I was struck upside the tongue with an immediate heat which persisted through the rich flavors which then developed, consistent with the amazing nose. This is quite the reverse of most rums which finish, not begin, with heat.

Yet another pleasant surprise.

A note about Sue Sea's discover of fresh, homegrown pineapple. Last year we planted eight pineapple plants and were pleased to harvest six large pineapples, with more on the way. Believe me the slightly yellow tinged, but mostly green pineapples you buy in the store (think Dole) are good, but not even close to the same pineapples planted, grown and harvested at their absolute ripe peak in your own backyard. Different? Yes. Better? Much. Here's what you've never experienced...

When fully ripe the growing green pineapples turn bright - yes, bright yellow. Wait another day, and its too late. Pick the day they go bright yellow and you are in for the sweetest, juiciest pineapple you have ever had, and which feature a creamy, almost vanilla ice cream effect that the store bought pineapples will never have.

I'm dead serious. And that special creamy vanilla, home grown aroma and luscious taste was there in the Brinley's. Stupendous. As Sue Sea expounded on all the ways the Brinleys Gold Coconut Rum could be used, we started by adding some ice and milk. Delicious.

Let me end with this. I dare you to buy and try the Brinleys Coconut, and see what real and authentic flavors and spices taste like in an good aged rum. The Brinley's family remains free of the large corporations and thankfully so.

A must buy.


Score (ten is best): solid 8.
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