Cockspur XO
Cockspur XO was a gift from a friend and my first opportunity to try a rum from the brand. Although Cockspur is a name I had come across before, I had never actually tasted one of their rums. Barbados is a country I know well from the bottles on my shelf, so I was interested to see how their approach compared with the other Barbadian rums I’ve spent time with.
Cockspur has been making rum in Barbados since 1884, when Valdemar Hanschell established the brand on the island. The XO takes a traditional Barbadian rum and gives it additional influence from Spanish Oloroso sherry casks, with selected bourbon-aged rums married in the sherry casks before bottling. That combination of familiar Barbados rum and sherry influence was what I was most interested to explore.
Facts & Figures.
ABV: 43%
Country: Barbados
Age: Up to 8 years
Cask: ex-Bourbon American oak and finished in Olorosso sherry casks.
Still: Column
Price: £40
Distillery: West Indies Rum Distillery
On the nose.
There’s a decent amount of of charred (potentially even still smoking) wood straight off the bat. A nice red fruit develops (think currants and musky raspberries). A touch of caramel but no vanilla. There’s a floral note to this that I cannot place, with a slightly medicinal/chemical note.
On the palate.
This is a lot softer than I imagined with the charred wood coming across very gentle, with no tannins to talk about. Some dry, dusty dark cocoa is at odds with whatever the floral note is from the nose. That perfume note continues adding a strange mouthfeel that presents very smooth, with a very short finish.
3/10 – This is unfortunately quite boring, with only some floral confusion keeping my attention. This is a mixing rum for me.
My scoring system, explained
- 10: Exceptional. This is best in class and a firm favourite of mine.
- 9: Outstanding. Near perfection, a bottle I would be sad to finish (and very happy to restock!)
- 8: Excellent. An evening spent sipping this would be a very good one.
- 7: Great. Add to cart, no questions asked.
- 6: Very good. At the right price I would definitely buy a bottle.
- 5: Good. If someone poured me a glass you wouldn’t hear me complain.
- 4: Above average. Not quite good but better than some.
- 3: Average. Average at best, this isn’t offensive but equally not exciting either.
- 2: Not for me. This simply means it’s not a profile I find enjoyable; rather than a reflection of quality.
- 1: Not the spirit. This is a poor representation of the spirit.
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