Overview

Brand: Denizen

Origin: Trinidad Distillers Ltd, Laventille, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago; Undisclosed Caribbean Distilleries

Still: Pot & Column Blend

Age: NAS

Finish: ex-Bourbon

ABV: 40%

Denizen returns with another multi-country rum blend that is geared towards efficient cocktail builds. The Netherlands-based brand recently overhauled their brand to feature a more modern look and feel, and re-launched their rums with some changes here-and-there both to their blends and their labels.

Denizen Aged White Rum is a blend of pot & column still rums from Trinidad (likely most or all of the column still component) and "the Caribbean". While the sea itself isn't making the rum, it's likely the pot still component(s) include rums from at least one Jamaican distillery, given that the island country's silhouette is featured opposite Trinidad's. These rums were likely sourced from and blended by E&A Scheer in Amsterdam, where they spent "up to" 5 years aging*, before being filtered and bottled at 40% ABV.

*Despite having some amount of aging listed on the label, I count this as NAS (having no age statement), as the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (or TTB)– the government organization that regulates labeling of alcoholic products, among other functions– requires rum age statements to feature the youngest component in a finished product.

Appearance

Clear, low viscosity

Nose

Fresh pineapple, lemon peel, hint of vanilla, banana, orange slice candy, ethanol

Palate

Banana, fresh pineapple, hint of coconut

Finish

Short, dry, light; vanilla, ethanol, hint of coconut

Rating: 5/10

Summary

For a workhorse lightly aged rum that isn't going to ruffle feathers, Denizen Aged White Rum is… okay. It fits that bill and doesn't make any attempt to push past it.

The nose is by far the most evocative part of the experience, with noticeable aromas of lemon peel, pineapple, banana, and orange slice candy; raw ethanol also pops up, as it does on the finish. Hints of banana, pineapple, and coconut– and I mean La Croix flavor-level whispers of hints– come through on the mostly neutral palate.

This bottle is clearly meant for cocktailing, so I'm not faulting this, but it's simply an OK rum that I'd throw in a Daiquiri for an easy sip, or perhaps as the lightly-aged component in a Tradewinds– one of my favorite in the tiki canon– to take a back seat to a heavier pot still rum.

Recommended Cocktails

Further Reading