Nose: Maple syrup, sultanas, and hints of icing sugar.
Palate: Christmas cake with a cocoa dusting, with a side-serving of dried pears covered in honey.
Mouthfeel: Thick with no hints of burn despite ABV.
Finish: It has a decent length – although not as long as the BG073CS. Quite sweet – with honey notes lasting till the end.
This Covid-19 special release bottling of Black Gate’s BG081 single cask rum is bottled at a massive cask strength of 66% ABV with no additives. It was a limited run of 10 bottles that were sold at a virtual Black Gate tasting held by Whisky Freedom / NTD Spirits. This rum will also be released as a standard release that is not cask strength.
This rum was aged for a similar amount of time (3 months less), and in identical 225L Port/tawny casks, to BG073, but is a totally different rum. Thicker, more mellow, and a hell of a lot sweeter.
Straight off the bat I would say that I prefer BG073, but this BG081 is a rum that you could spend all day sipping your way through a bottle of. This is definitely not a rum I would have any apprehension in drinking again should the opportunity arise.
The Black Gate distillery is is run by the husband & wife duo of Brian and Genise Hollingworth. The distillery is located in the Central West region of New South Wales, in the town of Mendooran – which is approximately 45 minutes north of Dubbo by road, about 6 hours north of Canberra by road, and about 5 hours north-west of Sydney by road.
All of the rum at Black Gate is distilled by Genise – with her husband, Brian, distilling the whisky. When making the rum, Genise uses a distillation technique similar to sour mash – with the pot ale being put back through with the next distillation.
Would I Drink It Again?
Total Score
In a heartbeat - although as a limited one-time release, that is unlikely.