makes the best smoothist cocktails. my friends and I gather every other week and look forward to new ideas on food and drink. This was a hit at the last party. I wish I had been the one who bought the bottle. Instead I only mixed and drank. I didn't get to take it home. I did however put in a request for a bottle to be added to my liquor collection. Enjoy

shadow1xx

Butler, KY

  Much like other types of base liquors, rums offer many variations that alter the taste of the final product. Rum is made from sugar cane, but different rums are processed with slight changes that result in their unique flavor. One of the better rums available is **Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum**, a dark rum produced in the U.S. Virgin Islands. **Liquor Commentary:** Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum is a dark rum that has a brown/yellowish color combination and a pleasant aroma that combines alcohol, vanilla, butterscotch, and a touch of both molasses and maple. The body of this rum is medium in consistency and it flows freely in a glass. This rum offers an interesting array of flavors, some of which can be tasted up front and others in the background. Flavors like vanilla, honey, alcohol, and oak flavors are noticed immediately. There is also a taste of alcohol, but it isn't as pronounced as some other rums and it results in a smooth finish that goes down with no burn and with a small amount of spiciness. Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum is triple distilled and aged for two to four years in bourbon oak barrels. It is 80 proof (40 percent alcohol), which is the typical strength of most distilled spirits. The overall taste is dry and clean.Cruzan makes several different rums and most all of them rank above average in quality. The ones most people are familiar with are the flavored rums in the Cruzan family. Flavored options like mango, orange, pineapple, and vanilla are very popular and very easy to find. Most liquor stores carry several of them and they continue to win over new fans every day. But this particular rum, Cruzan Single Barrel Estate, takes a little more effort to track down. Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum is distilled on the island of St. Croix and is imported to liquor stores all over the nation, but not in the same quantities and wide distribution as the flavored varieties. Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Dark Rum offers many reasons to rate it highly, but the qualities I like best about this rum are its complex flavors and its smooth finish. The flavors of vanilla, oak, molasses, and maple are the most dominant and they make for a great tasting rum straight up or served with a little bit of club soda or water, for maximum taste. The other great thing about Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum is the smoothness. There is little harshness at all in the finish and it tastes clean and dry, the way good rum should. Because Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Dark Rum is richer and fuller- bodied than most other rum, it makes a good choice for drier drinks that emphasize the flavor of rum as opposed to the sweeter drinks that emphasize the taste of fruit, sugar, etc. Don't get me wrong- Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Dark Rum is still good when used as an ingredient for sweeter drinks like Planter's Punch. But the problem with these sweeter drinks is that the sugary, fruity flavors can sometimes mask some of Cruzan's great taste. This is why I like it best served in dry drinks or in drinks that call for only a couple of ingredients so that you can sip slowly and enjoy the good taste of Cruzan Single Barrel Estate. Simple drinks like Seven Up and Cruzan or Cruzan and Coke taste delicious when mixed with this specific product. True, Seven Up and Coke are both sweet. But if you mix the proportions just right, you get a balanced drink that allows the great taste of the rum to shine through. **Bottom Line Viewpoint:** Rum ranks next to whiskey on my list of favorite liquors and Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum is one of my favorite dark rums. It is a high quality distilled spirit and one of the few brands of rum that I like drinking straight up or with soda water just as much as I like drinking in mixed drinks. The surprising smoothness and combination of flavors make this dark rum one of the worlds finest.

Bryan-Carey

Houston, TX

**WHAT AM I 2 REVIEW ME OR THE RUM,,HM WELL ILL TELL A STORY ON ME AND THE RUM,,MY WIFE WHO BLESSED ME WITH OUR 2 CHILDREN I RAISED WITH gODS HELP AND i WERE DATING IN 1990. WE WERE IN THE BAHAMAS JUST OFF A CRUISE SHIP AND BOUGHT A BOTTLE OF THIER BLACK RUM OF BACARDI AND SAT ON THE CURB OF THE OPEN AIR HAIR BRAIDING AND cONCH BUYING MARKET AREA DRINKING THIS CONCOCTION STRIGHT FROM THE BOTTLE WARM,,AND IT WAS SO SMOOTH,,IT WAS A FUN TIME AND WE BARLEY MADE IT BACK TO THE SHIP.** **bARBADOS rUM IS A DRINK THAT IS BEST ENJOYED WITH A 21 YR OLD MODEL YOUR DATING ON A CURB WITH NOT A CARE IN THE WORLD :-)**

DadSonDaughter

Liberty Center, OH

We first discovered Cruzan Rum when cruising in the Carribean.  We purchased several flavors for our "Boat" drink enjoyment back at home.  The Single Barrel Rum was the one we consumed the fastest and wished we had purchased more than one bottle.  We usually drink Captain Morgans or Bacardis and I can honestly say that Cruzan rum has taken over the Captain's place on our shelf.  What we really like is the smooth taste of this rum, its economic price and the way it mixes so well. We will always have Cruzan rum on hand for ourselves and friends.

WolverineFan

Lansing, MI