Overview
Brand: Circle Hook
Origin: Underhill's Circle Hook Distilling, Gulfport, Mississippi, USA
Still: Pot
Age: 10 months
Finish: New American Oak
ABV: 42.5%
It's always interesting seeing a bottle of American-made rum from a distillery dedicated to the spirit. Circle Hook Distilling was founded in 2018 by Eli Underhill, who wanted to contribute to the community in Gulfport, Mississippi, where the distillery is now located.
Circle Hook's rum is unique in that aside from their Agricole-style rum, all their products– Silver rum, Original Aged rum, and Distiller's Reserve rum– are a blend of molasses and sugarcane distillate.
This bottle of Circle Hook Barrel Aged Rum comes from Batch #3, which was a 3 barrel blend of one molasses-based rum– the oldest, at 1.5 years– and two sugarcane syrup barrels of undisclosed age. All aging was done in new American oak, and after aging and blending, the rum was bottled at a strength of 42.5% ABV.
Appearance
Marigold, low viscosity
Nose
Butterscotch, toasted marshmallows, vanilla, sugarcane, baked almonds, cinnamon
Palate
Vanilla, sugarcane, butterscotch, shortbread cookies, cinnamon
Finish
Medium-long, tannic, earthy; sugarcane, vanilla bean, cinnamon, toasted oak, molasses
Rating: 6/10
Summary
This aged rum from Circle Hook is a solid expression from a startup distillery working to bring something new to the table.
Batch #3 features a healthy mix of molasses and sugarcane notes: toasted marshmallows, vanilla, sugarcane, and cinnamon throughout the nose, palate, and finish. The palate is a little thin, but the butterscotch and shortbread offers a slight sweetness that leads into a into a warm and earthy finish.
Really nice entry into the game for Eli and Circle Hook Distilling. I'm interested to see what comes next from this producer, and suggest giving this a shot if you find this bottle in front of you.