Spirit Review: Plantation Trinidad 2000

Type: Rum
Origin: Trinidad
ABV: 42%
Price: $47.99 at my local B&M

To change things up a bit (and because of a crazy work schedule), I thought I would take a couple week break from reviewing cigars to talk about something that is very important to cigar smoking: Finding a companion beverage or spirit to accompany our cigars. While David has done a great job highlighting some great bourbons, my palette has always leaned towards scotch, notably in the last four or five years specifically Arbeg and Laphroaig. However, we have a rule in my house: Every third bottle or so of scotch we drink, the next bottle is something different (and not necessarily scotch). Over the last four years or so, I’ve found from friends that Caribbean Rum makes a fantastic alternative to whiskey. Many of the same flavor notes can be found in both cigars and rum and they can counterbalance a sometimes-overbearing cigar. Reading the information on the Plantation Trinidad 2000, I found the following snippet:

The nose is complex with cinnamon and tropical fruits notes, and also notes of smoke.

Sounds good to me. Let’s give it a shot.

The rum has a nice golden color to it, though not as dark as some of the other rums I have tried in the past (maybe it was the room?). The nose, similar to the description above, gave me notes of dried fruits, oranges and smoke. The body of the flavor on my first few drinks was balanced with flavor notes of orange, vanilla and molasses. Those notes were predominantly hitting the middle of my tongue. The finish of the rum ended very smoothly with a bit more vanilla notes on the aftertaste.

While I would not mix this with soda of any kind, I do think that because of the orange and vanilla flavors that the Trinidad Plantation 2000 would work well as the basis of a proper Caribbean drink. In terms of pairing this rum to a cigar, this would be a great counterbalance to full bodied cigars. Anything along the lines of a RoMa Craft CroMagnon, Cain Habano, CAO Brazilia, or something similar would do well here.

The only thing I can knock this rum on is the price. While I pay more for Laphroaig and Ardbeg, I know I can get a comparable rum for at least $10.00 less. Again, this is my only criticism of this. Should you see it out at your local liquor store for less than what I paid, I would highly encourage you to check it out.

Final Score: 9/10

As always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.