Phraya Deep Matured Gold Rum

ABV: 40%

Country: Thailand

Age: 7-12 Years

Cask: Unknown

Still: Unknown

Price: £54

Distillery: Sangsom distillery

I first came across Phraya at UK RumFest this year and had a great chat with the team whilst tasting their range – they kindly sent me a bottle so I could do some tasting notes with a fresh palate. I was fascinated to learn that the aging is done in storage several meters underground in the hot & humid climate of Thailand.

Nose

A reasonably soft nose with soft nuanced aromas rather than big & bold standouts. This is damp and musky with some smoky notes (think more tobacco than bonfire). Acetone cuts through the gentle smoke to reveal a slightly bitter citrus – orange peel and grapefruit.

Palate

This isn’t a hugely complex/multi-layered rum – in the way I think about my mixing and cocktail rums vs my go-to profiles for a neat sipper but would make a wonderful sipper for someone earlier in their journey.

Some of the smokiness from the nose carries through onto the palate – smoky may not quite be the right word here as I get more oaky spice, nutmeg, ginger and dried fruits (raisins) but my mind still makes the leap into smoke territory. There is some overarching sweetness going on here with both vanilla and honey present alongside a more fresh note of prickly pear.

The finish on this is really where this rum sings for me and whilst I might not sip it often, if I fancy a less challenging evening tipple I can see myself reaching for the bottle. It’s surprisingly dry with some bitterness that I associate with wet bark (as opposed to dark chocolate, coffee or tannins)

4/10 – Overall this is a little one-note for me as a neat sipper; and the price is a big barrier to this scoring any higher