Captain Morgan is a rum originally developed by Canadian company Seagram. Seagram sold the brand to Diageo, which has become the world’s largest alcohol producer through various mergers and acquisitions. With strong marketing and efficient distribution channels, Diageo has elevated several brands to the world’s best-selling products, and Captain Morgan is also one of them.
Original Spiced Gold is a flavored alcohol that is sold all over the world and is probably also found in every grocery store in the Baltic states. Spiced Gold is an alcohol specifically intended for mixed drinks, as its manufacturer states in its first sentence. Coca-Cola, ginger beers, orange juices and others are the ones with which this product is usually combined. It is mid-priced, on the same level with Bacardi and very often bargained in stores. In Estonia, in a half-liter bottle, it costs a bit over 10 euros.
Spiced Gold is made from column distilled rum imported from Jamaica or other countries and matured for 1-2 years in oak barrels. However, it gets its color, taste and other aromas from essences and other spices, of which vanilla and cinnamon are the most important. The internet is packed with texts on how Captain Morgan Gold tastes like an artificial creep when sipped neat, but is still great with a variety of mixed drinks. There is a strong presence of vanilla in the aroma and taste, which is more of an artificial flavor similar to vanillin sugar. In the background is cinnamon and hints to other spices and also some wood-like nuance. The alcohol bite is quite sharp, which has not been able to be hidden by a fair dose of sweeteners. It is simply young and very efficiently produced liquor.
Sipping neat, Original Spiced Gold is a sweet and fairly crisp, howeve, quite lightly seasoned alcohol, if the vanilla flavor is omitted. There’s nothing special about it unless you just like the sweet liquor flavored with vanilla sugar and cinnamon. However, for different mixes and hot drinks, it works just right. As long as you keep the mixing ratio correct, like about 1:3 or 1:4. If you make it stronger, the aroma of vanillin and alcohol burn strikes through unpleasantly. I tried Spiced Gold at least in hot toddy, in mulled wine, apple juice and Ginger ale and it worked just fine with everyone, even better than most dark rums of the same price. This is exactly what the manufacturer has been trying to do, with optimizing the spiciness and sweetness levels. Captain Morgan Spiced Gold is a good and a safe choice for a variety of party drinks, it will probably taste well enough to all guests.
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