To date as far as I understand the Bacardi’s I have tried have been from the Puerto Rican distillery. Until reading up on the Bacardi 8 I wasn’t even aware they had a distillery in the Bahamas. I also learnt a little about geography as well as I was going to note this is a Bajan rum. Wrong! In the glass the rum smells very inviting. There is very little in the way of “booze” in the nose, the rum smells sweet but also oaky. It is not quite as “Latin” in terms of oakiness and in particularly smokiness as the Bacardi Reserva. It is slightly darker than the Reserva, which would suggest longer in the barrel. As I mentioned in my earlier review of the Bacardi Reserva I had put off trying the Bacardi 8 due mainly to my dislike of Bacardi Gold. Incidentally the Bacardi Gold (or Oro as it is now) has recently been re-released in the UK as a 40% offering as opposed to the previous 37.5% effort. Due to the joy of travel I’ve already tried both offerings. Neither impressed. But as shown in my review of the Reserva I was wrong to totally dismiss Bacardi. When sipped, or mixed with a little ice or water the Bacardi 8 is very decent. It’s very smooth and easy to sip. It isn’t hugely expensive. . It is a well balanced rum. It has nice notes of sweetness and oak. It has some similarities with Angostura 1919 but I think this is slightly better. Both are very smooth

Recently has rebooted and rebranded Bacardi Reserva Ocho 8 Years Old, and it has also launched two additional rums to bookend that bottling, a four year old and a 10 year old. That’s right, all three of these Puerto Rico-born rums carry age statements. (We did not receive the highest-end in the photo above, Bacardi Limitada, for review.) The rum is actually really nice just to sip. It is very smooth for an 8 year old rum. The Reserva I found was best mixed with cola to take its roughness away a little. The Bacardi 8 however when mixed with cola becomes quite oily and bitter. To be honest in a Cuba Libre it isn’t very nice at all.

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