Appleton Estate comes from Jamaica and is one of the world’s most famous rum brands. Rum production is said to have begun in Jamaica in 1749. Appleton Estate’s history dates back to 1862, when the Wray & Nephew distillery was founded. The company has since grown, acquired other distilleries and changed ownership several times. Today, it is part of the Italian Campari Group.

Signature Blend is a blend of over 15 different distillates, with an average age of four years. After maturation, the distillates are cold-filtered and the color is balanced with sugar color. According to the manufacturer, no sugar or other spices have been added to the rum before bottling. Signature Blend is Appleton Estate’s youngest and most affordable bottling. The price for a 70 cl bottle was €20.

The rum is light brown in color, much lighter than most dark rums sold in stores. The aroma has sweet molasses, a little spice and fruitiness. The taste is quite dry, I expected a sweeter initial taste based on the smell. The taste has a bunch of sweet molasses, but even more of the oak barrel aroma. Oak barrels are said to come from Jack Daniels distillery. There is not as much fruitiness as there was in the smell The aftertaste is a mixture of molasses, wood and some spices. The alcohol burn is on the sharp side and it is clearly a blend of quite young distillates. The molasses taste is much stronger than in the Brugal and Mount Gay I tested earlier. When diluted with water, the molasses taste is even more pronounced and you don’t taste much else. Signature Blend has pretty much the same as VS grade cognac. You can sip it neat, but it works much better in cocktails. It certainly have enough taste also for the most demanding cocktails. 

83/100