Appleton Legend 2005

A spectacular blend from Joy Spence...top!

How do you want to rate it. Unfortunately, I really liked it better on its own than in May Tai. Lost style meets it. But in the mai tai unfortunately no more than a reminder of days gone by.

Best as a Mai Tai

On the nose dried fruit, polish, fermented fruit and a little menthol and iodine. Very spicy on the palate, allspice, nutmeg, espresso. Really exciting part, but probably even more exciting for the Mai Tai faction, who do not want to put 50k on the table for the Wray & Nephew 17 😅

Tasted this one in "Tiki Week" at my favorite cocktail-bar in the city centre. Had a talk with the manager and ambassadors from Appleton Estate. Amazing nose of ripe fruits and caramel, and an explosion of taste! I got notes of fruits, funk and some citrus. Updated with location

#4145 This little sample arrived straight from the US this morning and a friend brought it to the door 😊 He just wanted to get a bottle before most and had to lay down close to 800 USD to get a bottle. I'm certain this will turn into a collectors item and many not being opened and used as intended by their master blender Joy. This rum is more Jamaican than the regular Appleton releases for sipping. More funk and a bit more esters and on top of that a lot of fruit. Draws beautiful curtains in the glass and the empty glass has some caramel and dried fruit. Heavily overpriced but who cares if you're a collector 😊

However, the 17 years in the barrels have given the rum beautiful oak notes, which provide a roasted, nutty undertone and pronounced vanilla flavors in the mouth. Nothing is overdone here, the alcohol (bottled at 49% by volume) is fantastically integrated. The rum is complex without being overpowering. You can really enjoy sniffing and tasting it for a long time.

However, the 17 years in the barrels have given the rum beautiful oak notes, which provide a roasted, nutty undertone and pronounced vanilla flavors in the mouth. Nothing is overdone here, the alcohol (bottled at 49% by volume) is fantastically integrated. The rum is complex without being overpowering. You can really enjoy sniffing and tasting it for a long time.

Very oily! Extremely complex nose. Ester, dried fruit, after longer breathing gasoline or workshop. Each time smelling in and a new image emerges. Rancid sweat.😅 Very complex, alcohol top integrated, good drinking strength. Then a bit thin in the mouth. Plastic and medicine. Herbs!!! The finish could be a little longer. An Appleton off the beaten path, there one has clearly helped oneself to New Yarmouth stocks. Certainly not an uninteresting product, which then in rudiments reminds of old Jamaicans (1941, 1945). By Limitation and the story told in addition, this becomes a collector's item.

I honestly did not expect much, but I like it surprisingly well! For an Appleton a lot of esters, little wood, some marzipan, yellow fruits, very ring and balanced. Probably too round for a Mai Tai....

Wow. What a nose, and not what I was expecting, much more by the way of esters and tropical fruit than the standard Appleton releases and even the Hearts collaboration. Nose brings cinnamon and nutmeg, with some glue like esters and tropical fruit. The mouth compliments with pear and banana, some nutty oak and herbal notes. Complex and incredibly inviting on the mouth. A really impressive rum, the finish is smooth and fades into one of the most tropical fruit finishes I have tried in a while, all banana, guava, and mango but keeps you interested for a long time after tasting. The ABV at 49% just works and let’s you explore the flavours. Overall a top notch rum, not sure it is worth the price tag but hype notwithstanding it is an impressive Appleton!

I didn't recognize Appleton in the blind, something else entirely. Beautiful rum, but shorter finish

Made to recreate Trader Vic's original Mai Tai. Characteristic sipper

It is already a polarizing rum. Personally, I like it very much because it is simply quite different from all other Appleton's. Lots of fruit, esters, honey but very little wood. A few bitter notes. Pure is good to drink even if not overdimensionally complex but just different. In the Mai Tai he delivers a good final product if he is also here (maybe it's because of the expectations or also because you already had incredibly good stuff in the MT) not really the bringer. The price I leave out (that would correct the rating strongly down) because I want to evaluate the pleasure not the price!!!

Really exciting Appleton. A profile that you really don't know. I'm extremely excited to see what he brings in May Tai.