This is my first review in several months, and really my first review since I've started to sip rums neat. I've only been collecting rum for about 6 months and I've only really been sipping rum for about half of that time, so take this review with a grain of salt.
Single Cask pick for the Rum Curious Club's Rum Curious Summit in 2025. The first Fiji rum to enter my collection as well as my first bottling from Holmes Cay.
Distillery: South Pacific Distilleries
Origin: Lautoka, Fiji
Still: Pot Still
Distillation base: Molasses
Distilled: 2015
Age: 9 years total. 1 year in Fiji, 6 years in the UK, 2 in the US in ex-bourbon barrels.
ABV: 58%
Price: $70 USD
Nose: A toasty sweetness, graham cracker, grilled pineapple, a gentle note of brine that rolls into the other smells and creates this aroma that altogether smells like if you were grilling fruit on a charcoal grill and spilled some of the juice into the charcoal, if that makes any sense. I feel that this is that Fiji diesel that people describe but as I've come back to this a few times I feel as though the individual notes are separating.
Palate: Tasted neat. The aroma translates fairly well into its flavor on the front of the palate. That diesel and fruity smoke flavor hits immediately, along with that same toasty sweetness and mild brine that the aroma hinted to. A bit of rubber, toffee, vanilla, and caramel comes in. Then the heat comes in and gives off some ginger spice and cedar. To me, not too sweet, not too harsh, a healthy dose of both.
Finish: The flavor from the finish lingers for quite a long time. You could take 3 hours to finish a small pour and the flavor would keep with you the whole time. It gives a pleasant warming sensation along the sides of your tongue that gives the flavor that comes with it a sensational element that I think is very pleasant. The finish flavor is almost exactly like if you roasted a marshmallow over the fire to a perfect golden brown, then peeled that toasted layer off and ate that on top of a small piece of graham cracker. The flavor was so exact, and I've never been able to describe a flavor of a rum so precisely after just the first sip.
Rating: 8.5/10
I've very much enjoyed this rum from the first sip. The general flavor profile might leave some people feeling as though it's a bit sweet, but to me it has this dry element that has me feeling like I could sip the stuff all night and never get tired of it. It's a welcome departure from the typical stuff I like to sip on and it feels right at home as an after-dinner pour. The warming sensation combined with that toasted marshmallow finish is quite nice in the evening. All in all I'm very glad I gave this one a shot as it's made its way into my top 10, and possibly my top 5, if only missing because it's not a part of my favorite rum category and preferred flavor profile.
