Angel's Share Title
Coconut Cartel Rum
Coconut Cartel is a private label rum owned by sibling team Danielle and Mike Zighelboim that puts an interesting twist on what we in the rum world are used to encountering. The company took a Guatemalan copper column still rum that had been aged for around 12 years in once used American oak barrels and imported it to the U.S. All sounds pretty standard, right? Then, instead of using water to blend it from barrel proof to 40% ABV, the company used fresh coconut water. Breaking from the norms of normal blending practices intrigued me and I was curious to explore what the product tasted like.
Appearance
Coconut Cartel Rum
The rum holds a warm golden amber color in the bottle and brightens slightly in the glass. Swirling the liquid creates a thick band that spins off equally thick fast-moving legs. After a minute the band drops a second set of slow-moving legs, it takes a while before they finally evaporate leaving residue in their wake.
Nose
It is no surprise that as I poured the rum in the glass sweet coconut wafted from it. After that aroma settled, I discovered notes of banana, mango, strawberry, dark toffee and sweet praline.
Palate
The first sip of the rum has a silky texture that envelops the tongue with a balance of sweet coconut, caramelized vanilla, and roasted walnuts with a flash of alcohol. The tropical flavors from the aroma mingle and dance as a banana and berry flambé note manifests. As the flavor begins to fade there is a light acidic cacao note and black pepper mingles with the other flavors in a pleasant lingering finish.
Review
This rum was a pleasant pour, I was braced for something overly sweet and coconut driven and instead discovered a sipping rum with an interesting complexity. I found it worked well with fruit juices, but was combative with cola and think a skilled bartender could mix up some interesting concoctions with this product. I enjoyed sipping it neat and appreciate the different approach the owners took in creating this product. If you are looking for something different to enjoy on a hot summer night, this might just be the product for you.
Cheers!
