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Rum Haven Coconut Rum Liqueur
We were in one of our local shops checking out the shelves for new products and I came across this product. Rum Haven is produced by Grande Antilles Cane Spirits Company, the same company that produces Shellback Rum, which is made at the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados. This liqueur is made with real coconut water, cane sugar and rum and blended to 21% ABV.
Rum Haven Coconut Water
Appearance
The bottle is a tall, short necked 750 mL vessel with a metal screw top. The labels do not provide much in the way of information, but enough that I could research the basic details about the company behind the product.The liquid is crystal clear in the bottle and glass. Agitating the liquid created a thick band that spun off legs as soon as I stopped swirling the liquid. The fast moving legs dropped and quickly evaporated while the band in equal time was reduced to a ring of residue on the glass.
Nose
There were no surprises with the liqueur, as I poured it into the tasting glass a strong aroma of sugar and coconut filled the air. After it settled, I revisited the glass and rediscovered the sugary coconut with a strong dose of ethanol and acetate rounding out the liquid.
Palate
Sipping the liqueur provided an oily, slick mouth feel that delivered the flavors from the aroma in a quick flavor burst that leaves a sugary sweetness coating the teeth and tongue. This sweetness lingered in a long aftertaste that it took water to clear out.
Review
A good toasted coconut is one of my favorite flavors, especially in desserts. I was hoping that this would be a coconut liqueur I could work with, but the overwhelming sweetness of the product is a bit much. (SWEET, why does it always have to be so sweet?) The company recommends trying it with fruit juices so I mixed it with orange juice. The tartness of the juice seemed to cut some of the sweetness and balance the coconut flavor, however the sugar lingered after the drink was finished. We tried it with club soda and that muted the sweetness and turned out to be a decent drink. If you decide to give this product a try, I recommend looking at recipes that use coconut liqueurs and account for the extra sweetness of the liquid. Overall, it was just a bit too sugary for me.
