Captain Morgan Tattoo is a dark rum suited for straight shooting or for sipping with an ice cube and a splash of soda. I’ve avoided the Captain since 1997 because of bad mixing Boston style, however, I thought I would give this a try when I saw it was a dark rum claiming a “sweet to heat”
finish.
THE HISTORY - This baby was born on May 9th, 2005. After quite a few trial parties and sampling sessions, parent company, Diageo (Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Cuervo … ), released this beast. Diego claims that it combined fine Puerto Rican black-spiced rum with premium and hot spices to create the “sweet to heat” tango. Diego plans to sell this from 50ml to 1.75l. A 5th of Tattoo will average around $16.
THE POUR - Captain Morgan Tattoo pours a dark Cola color that is translucent when held to the light. It honestly made me think “Coke” when I saw the color with a single ice cube added.
THE NOSE - The great thing about Tattoo is that it does not smell like Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. It smells like dark rum, cherry cola, orange peels, and the medicinal notes of Jagermeister. I inhaled quite a few times and took in this mixture of spice and alcohol. I was quite pleased considering my aversion to rum.
THE TASTE - I did not want to sip the 50ml straight, so I added a single ice cube to absorb some of the 35% ABV and to release more flavor and aroma. It did quite the trick, slightly cooling the rum and softening the alcohol to a sipping level. I immediately tasted sugary syrup that reminded me of Cherry Coke without the carbonation. This cherry sense was coupled with a slight bitter orange rind flavor. The sweet sense was a little sweet for me, but the spices patiently followed behind the sweetness. My chest warmed with the first sip and my taste buds were busy trying to take in the different spices. There is really no “hot” spice in this - perhaps only if you are doing it straight. The true warmth is really in the back of your mouth and down your throat (I just had a sip that brought me near to tears … what’s in this stuff?). The finish is slightly bitter and sticky. Not the greatest, but nothing to complain about.
THE AFTERTASTE - This is going to be a popular drink. You can say I was the first to claim it here. Captain Morgan will unquestionably release a great media campaign and there will the 19-somethings running around telling everyone that, “Like, this is the greatest stuff ever!! I just did 9 shots of it!!” For others with their feet planted firmly on the ground, we’ll enjoy sipping this with on the rocks or with a splash of tonic or fruit juice. I would recommend staying away from any drink that brings more sugars into the mix as this already has enough syrup to it. Cranberry, Grapefruit?, or just tonic should do the trick.
I’d be interested to see if any of you come up with any other recipes or if the ones that make sense to me actually taste great. I only purchased 50ml and it’s all gone now. No more booze to experiment with.
Also try
Bermudan Gosling's Black Seal Rum
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