Side by side : Three new Banditti Club Rums from Glasgow Distillery

Most of you will know I'm not a huge fan of rum cask finished whiskies - I always find them too sweet. Callum likes to wind me up about it!

But my son does like rum, so here's my our review of Glasgow Distillery's three newest releases!

My youngest Alec likes his rum, 2 years ago he started on Captain Morgan and Kraken, always with cola, I've suggested a few different ones to him but he always goes for fancy bottles or fancy names: Salford, Pull the Pin, Sailor Jerry. I bought him a bottle of Banditti Club Glasgow Spiced and his attitude changed overnight, I've just started to get him to try them neat and explore the complexity before they are drowned in cola! I am concerned that he might be on a slippery slope to whisky so any suggestions for locked cabinets would be appreciated!

As you can see Glasgow DC did send me samples, but at the same time Alec bought all 3 bottles - he is a big fan of their rum! Opinions are honest and without bias.

From Wikipedia:

"Madeira is a fortified wine made on the Portuguese Madeira Islands, off the coast of Africa. Madeira is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own, as an aperitif, to sweet wines usually consumed with dessert. Cheaper cooking versions are often flavoured with salt and pepper for use in cooking, but these are not fit for consumption as a beverage.

The islands of Madeira have a long winemaking history, dating back to the Age of Exploration (approximately from the end of the 15th century) when Madeira was a standard port of call for ships heading to the New World or East Indies. To prevent the wine from spoiling, neutral grape spirits were added. On the long sea voyages, the wines would be exposed to excessive heat and movement which transformed the flavour of the wine. This was discovered by the wine producers of Madeira when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the islands after a round trip."

Tot	Barrel Aged Golden Rum	Madeira Wine Cask Finish	Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask Finish
Characteristics	52.1% ABV 659 bottles	54.6% ABV 866 bottles	55% ABV 504 bottles
Distillery notes	Our rum for these unique expressions begins its journey on the island of Madeira, where it is naturally (wild) fermented and distilled from fresh sugarcane juice.
	It was then aged in our distillery in Glasgow in fresh virgin American white oak casks for three years.  Bottled at 52.1% ABV, this rum showcases a wonderful grassy and fruity flavour from natural fermentation. The long and slow maturation in virgin oak imparts notes of vanilla and woody spice, alongside golden raisin, salted caramel, poached pears, toffee, honeycomb, and freshly cut grass.	It is then aged in Glasgow, first in new heavily charred virgin oak barrels, followed by an 11 month finishing period in first-fill Madeira wine casks, in homage to its spiritual home. Bottled at 54.6% ABV, this rum showcases a wonderful grassy and fruity flavour profile from natural fermentation alongside rich fruit cake, apricot, banana, gingerbread, and caramel all gained by the long finish in Madeira wine.	It is then aged in Glasgow, first in new heavily charred virgin oak barrels, followed by a 6 month finishing period in a first-fill Pedro Ximénez sherry wine cask. Bottled at 55 % ABV, this rum showcases a wonderful grassy and fruity flavour profile from natural fermentation—experience notes of dark chocolate, espresso, cardamom, candied orange zest and dark fruits.
Our thoughts:
Appearance
	Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line immediately forms large beads which fall as slow thick legs.	Dark bronze in the glass, a hint of red. Swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin oily legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.
Brian Nose	Charred pineapple, toffee, honey and a little maritime salinity.	There's some dunnage funk going on here! Fresh pineapple, berries, plums almonds and a little maritime salinity.	Christmas in a glass: dried fruit, dates, figs and black cherries. Dried pineapple, milk chocolate and citrus.
Brian Palate	Thick sweet arrival, slightly drying. the pineapple and toffee from the nose are here alongside rum & raisin ice cream and a bite of dry cinnamon spice.	Thick sweet arrival, very port like with berries and cherries, dried fruit, honey and toffee. There's some dry spice left on the tongue as the liquid disappears.	Thick arrival, not as sweet as the previous two, a little smoke, dark chocolate and coffee. Lots of dark fruit and berries. Blind I'd have said this was a whisky.
Brian Finish	Lingering spice, pineapple and citrus peel.	Lingering Christmas spices, dried fruit and orange zest.	Spice, bitter dark chocolate and tropical fruit.
Brian Overall	I actually enjoyed these, maybe it was drinking with Alec more than anything but they weren't as sweet as I was expecting. The Golden came across with maritime and  tropical notes, the Madeira turned things Christmassy and the the PX went a step further - on the nose you'd struggle to suggest this wasn't whisky. They all have this distance tropical fruit note especially on the finish which tells you that they aren't whisky. Very interesting to try but they aren't going to put me off buying whisky!
Alec Nose	Caramel, Caribbean beach, vanilla, pineapple juice and some freshly cut apple.	Red wine, New Year's Eve vibe, blood orange, rosemary, toffee and marzipan.	Christmas cake mix, orange, lemon & lime, caramel, milk chocolate, berries and freshly ground coffee.
Alec Palate	Toffee, pineapple, baking spices, ripe banana, fruit salad. With cola: caramelised apple, banana.	Raisins, caramel, tropical fruit, Christmas spices and liquorice. With cola: orange from the nose comes out more.	Fresh brewed expresso, smoky: burnt wood, spice. The chocolate from the nose has gone overpowered by the coffee. With cola: coffee with a chocolate syrup shot.
Alec Finish	Spicy, tropical fruit salad, alcohol.	Cinnamon spice, warm and refreshing.	Warm and spicy.
Alec Overall	I enjoyed all of them, a step up from Captain Morgan or Kraken, they have a wider range of flavours (Complexity), all very strong and I'm just getting into trying them neat before I add a little cola. I'd recommend them all to people looking to step up from Captain Morgan style rums. My order: PX, Madeira & Golden, Overall of the 6 Banditti club bottles I've had I'd go: Spiced, PX, Smoky Rogues, Madeira, Golden and Port.