I remember when I was going to try ‘real’ rum. No, no, not that stuff from college – with the wonderful vanilla or cherry flavor that you could suck down and was flavored like some kind of demented cough syrup. The real stuff – something dark, mysterious, and tropical. Something like Appleton Signature Blend.
The shocking thing about going from Cruzen to Appleton is someone pulling the sugar out from under you. It’s not a particularly gradual thing – like going from soda to white zinfandel or a sweet riesling. It’s more like a full stop – sprite to club soda. Don’t let that strike you as a bad thing though, without the cloying sweetness – and thanks to the production methods, you’ll find something much more complex and versatile for cocktail creations.
Appleton Signature Blend
Appleton Signature Blend is a blended Jamaican rum that formally claims no age statement (though the website suggests an average of 4 years). Although there is no mention of added sugar, they claim this to be a medium-sweet rum on Gruppo Campari’s website (whatever this means). Overall, you can typically find it for under $20 for a 750ml, but is it worth the price of admission?
Sight: A pale coppery-golden brown that hints a touch more orange.
Smell: There’s a hint of heat that comes up on the nose, but there are some wonderful candied fruit like aromas that waft out. Hints of banana, molasses, caramel, dark brown sugar, and a bit of vanilla extract all come out. The burn can get aggressive if you hold too long – bordering into acetone and rubbing alcohol.
Sip: On the palate it has a moderate-heavy weight to the body. It opens with a lot of molasses, a hint of oak and cedar, moving into raw vanilla bean, nuts, and a light caramel. Some tropical fruit seems present, but gets a bit muddled in some of the wood and hints of spice. The funk is low here.
Savor: On the ending, the woodiness and astrigency comes forward. It’s not a particularly sweet finish, but not entirely dry either. The flavors that remain are some of banana and molasses notes.
Appleton Signature Blend is an introductory rum at a good price that can function as a workhorse. There’s nothing here that’s particularly offensive, and it manages to bring some good flavor despite the rougher edges. There’s also very little to suggest this rum is overtly sweet or dry – it’s more in line with what you’d expect of a rum. It’s also clearly not the style of rum that’s meant to be sipped – rather it’s almost quintessentially what you might think of when thinking of a rum. With that same flavor in drinks it makes.
In Cocktails
Appleton Signature Blend works well in cocktails thanks to it’s balance between wood, sweetness, and tropical fruit notes. While nothing is particularly distinguished, this helps it play a great role in the background without upstaging other elements. The one shortcoming here is it’s same strength, a lack of complexity. Due to the relative simplicity – you’ll find Appleton Signature Blend works better when used a split base with another more complex rum – such as Pusser’s.
Appleton Signature Overall
Appleton Signature Blend typically runs around $20 or less. At this price point, it’s really not easy to make an argument here against Appleton. If you’re trying to build a bar on a budget – then Appleton Signature Blend offers good value for money that will play well in cocktails ranging from daiquiri’s to tiki drinks to Rum and Cokes.
Other’s Sharing a Dram of Appleton Signature Blend:
