Rum Review: Emporer Private Collection Clement Finish

When you think of Rum you normally picture a Caribbean island with white sandy beaches, palm trees swaying in the breeze, and picture-perfect blue skies. You would not think of the tiny island of Mauritius located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. I wasn't sure where exactly it was and had to look it up on a map. It is smaller than the size of Rhode Island and roughly 760 square miles. Emperor Rum looks to create unique and special bottles, especially this one which is the start of their Private Selection. They took the best of their old distillates, blended them, and aged them further in French and American oak barrels for 5 years. Once it is pulled from those barrels it is finished in the Chateau Pape Clement Bordeaux barrels.

Once it was poured into our tasting glasses it presented with a golden amber color.

The nose had a medium intensity. There was a strong note of chocolate along with a freshly roasted coffee bean hint to it. It also had oak, vanilla, gingerbread, and a bit of earthiness.

The palate was a medium finish. It started off with a coffee taste but quickly transitioned into a chocolate/gingerbread cookie. There was also hints of caramel, nutty, dark chocolate, pepper, and ended with a bit of sweet tea. It started off with a water mouth feel but slowly transition to the alcohol. It did not linger around long and dissipated after 15 seconds.