Real McCoy 12 Year Old Rum!

From Barbados…

When a rum is distinctive and genuine, carrying great flavors it makes my rum palate sing and if it´s backed up by a really interesting history it gets even better. Real McCoy is such a rum and i have reviewed the 5 year old rum before, now it´s time for the 12 year old which is a masterpiece as far as i`m concerned. First time i tried it was at the 2013 UK Rumfest and i was impressed by it`s deep flavor.

Real McCoy rum is produced by the legendary Foursquare distillery and it has an interesting and colorful history and is an excellent rum from Barbados bringing that genuine Bajan flavor to your glass – and with no extra sugar added – because rum does not necessarily need extra sugar to taste good!

Real McCoy rums are completely unadulterated — there are no added chemicals, sugars, flavors or perfumes – using blackstrap molasses and spring water. The rums are distilled in a combination of column and pot stills, then aged in American oak bourbon barrels for 3, 5 and as in this case, 12 years.

Real McCoy

The Real McCoy rum is based on the story of  William “Bill” McCoy, the pioneer rum runner of the prohibition era, who fueled the Roaring Twenties by delivering over 2 million bottles of rum to the speakeasies of New York back in 1920.

McCoy took pride in the fact that he never paid a cent to organized crime, politicians, or law enforcement for protection and unlike many others that illegally produced and smuggled alcohol for consumption during prohibition, McCoy sold his merchandise unadulterated, uncut and clean,

He never came ashore but instead anchored 3 miles off-shore, which back then was international waters, acting as a floating liquor store within sight of the metropolis of New York. People went out to McCoy, bought the rum and returned hoping to escape the Coast Guard on the way back in. An interesting fact about him is that he himself never touched alcohol…(!)

It’s a great story and the rum absolutely lives up to the name.

Yes indeed it does…and the 12 is even better!

The 12 year old Real mcCoy

The nose: It´s really a pleasure to close the eyes and inhale that nose of mature tropical fruits, demerara sugar, oak and baking spices. Sometimes i think i could just sit there and keep smelling these wonderful rum notes but of course i gotta taste it too…and the nose is really promising me of goodness to come.

In the mouth this rum has a wonderful aroma of rich toffee notes, tropical fruits, spices, smoky oak, banana, orange peel and molasses. It´s very balanced and softly caresses your palate while breathing a little bit of old rum history on you. It`s an old fashioned rum and like it. You feel good when you drink it!

The bottle is simple and look like a rum bottle from the old Caribbean, no extra “luxury” nonsense to dress up the bottle which btw is something that often makes me suspicious. If you know the content is solid and good it will speak for itself. That said, a nice bottle is always a plus but i do prefer the not so over-luxury looking ones.

Conclusion – The 12 year Real McCoy is without doubt a rum worth buying, you know what you get for the money and it does taste excellent both neat in your sipping glass or in your classic or tiki drink! and the price doesn`t hurt you either.

McCoy Rum Barrel Punch

This is a hybrid of a Rum Barrel and a Rum Punch… and like i said about the Rum Barrel cocktail – there´s something very relaxing and rewarding in having a BIG Rum Barrel mug filled with goodness to sip…like a giant pacifier for grownups…

Yes indeed, everyone who have had one knows how relaxing this drink can be. The West Indian Rum Punch or Rum Punches, since there´s so many different variations is also such a comfort drink.

I think Real McCoy is one of those rums that is perfectly suited for this type of drinks.

1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
0.5 oz dark sugarcane syrup
0.25 oz honey-mix (equal parts honey and water, heated to dissolve the honey, then mixed and cooled to room temp)
2 oz Real McCoy 12 year old rum
Dash Angostura bitters

Shake everything with plenty of ice cubes and pour into a tiki mug or tall glass filled with chunky cracked ice.

Garnish with a tropical flower and piece of lime.

The colors of the tropics…..

The Tiki mug is created by Wild Thing Creations in Australia, they also have a Facebook page. This particular mug is part of a two mug set with two similar but different mugs called “The Royal Pair” which i was lucky to be able to grab before they were gone…

Check out the web and facebook pages for updates,  it´s great mugs to very reasonable prices which takes away from the burden of high shipping costs and they ship worldwide! shipping prices are not that high either, go figure since they are shipped all the way from Australia.

It was a joy to make this drink with this absolutely fabulous rum in such a great mug!

See other The Real McCoy 12-Year rum reviews on RumRatings