Angel's Share Title
Copper Bottom Craft Distillery is located in Holly Hills, Florida, off the coast of the Hallifax River and north of Daytona Beach. This distillery uses fresh, unrefined sugarcane to produce their silver rum, and after fermentation, they use a small batch craft still to create this expression. The rum is blended to 40% ABV and bottled on site. They do not use any artificial colors or flavorings to make their rums.
Appearance
The 750-ml bottle provides basic information about the rum on the front label, including the batch number the rum came from. The rum for this review came from batch number 47. The back label shares the details and inspiration behind the name of the company and the equivocation of the phrase “Copper Bottom,” meaning someone who is “thoroughly reliable and trustworthy.” The plastic cork and stopper are fastened to the bottle with a clear security wrap and a logo neck strip. The liquid is crystal clear in the bottle and glass. Swirling the rum creates a thin band that thickens, slowly beads up, and then quickly releases a wave of legs. As the legs descend down the glass, they thicken up as they return to the liquid at the base. The band evaporates, leaving a good bit of pebbling around the glass.
Nose
The aroma of the rum leads to a strong butterscotch note. As it fades, a well-rounded vanilla note dominates briefly. As the vanilla fades, there are wisps of light citrus, ethanol, and minerals.
Palate
The first sip conditions the mouth with a swirl of butterscotch and alcohol, creating a dense, chewy mouthfeel. Additional sips continue to be dominated by the flavor of the alcohol, with a lemon zest note forming as a top note and a vanilla note that starts off light but gradually deeps along with the mineral flavors to create an earthier foundation than expected.
Review
It is always interesting to put an American craft rum through its paces, and to be honest, when I first detected the leading butterscotch note in the aroma, I had a here we go again moment. The butterscotch note is all too common, and in my experience, it dominates in a lot of craft rums. However, the vanilla, citrus, and mineral notes slid in and immediately changed the wariness into curiosity. Sipping the rum, the alcohol note is always present but augments instead of inhibiting the other flavors that develop. With that zesty citrus note in play, I immediately made a daiquiri with it, and the rum really shined in the cocktail. Overall, understanding that the goal of the company was to create a rum for making cocktails, they did a fine job with this endeavor.
