Appleton Reserve
Loved by Steve the Barman, Marcus Ekornes & 19 more
A solid stepping stone into Jamaican rum: 8 years old, 43% and unsweetened. Expect banana, caramel, honey and oak with a touch of smoke and spice. Versatile neat and excellent in Mai Tais or rum & cola. Backed by 200 RumX reviews, it’s praised for value and approachable character rather than big funk or extreme complexity.
- Great value
- Fruity banana notes
- Versatile mixer
+9Compare all 14 shop offers from 27.44 €
Details about Appleton Reserve
How does Appleton Reserve taste?
Aggregated from 209 community reviews.
Balanced, woody-fruity Jamaican all‑rounder A solid stepping stone into Jamaican rum: 8 years old, 43% and unsweetened. Expect banana, caramel, honey and oak with a touch of smoke and spice. Versatile neat and excellent in Mai Tais or rum & cola. Backed by 200 RumX reviews, it’s praised for value and approachable character rather than big funk or extreme complexity.
Rum drinkers moving beyond basic blends who want an affordable, fruity-yet-woody Jamaican for both sipping and cocktails, without heavy funk or added sugar.
Fans of high-ester Jamaican funk or cask‑strength intensity, and those looking for very complex, long-aged sippers.
How is Appleton Reserve rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict , 7.5 lands squarely in the "Good" band. 66% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 2% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
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Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Based on 209 ratings
Review by abaker-rum
I love the nose on this rum. It is a good marrying of caramel, vanilla, and oak with banana and pineapple. The taste carries the banana, caramel, and honey, the fades with a medium finish of barrel notes and molasses. I think the 8 year keeps up with the 12.
Review by Steve the Barman
All my Tastings and Scores are purely based on “Rums under £50”. I rarely look at Rums over £50 for my YouTube.
Review by Krogulczyk
Its good for it’s price. Too bourbon-forward for my preferences. Would not buy a bottle. Spices and wood are dominant, very little amount of solvents shining through the barrel notes. It does not have as many estery notes as Appleton signature, at the same time it is not as balanced and complex as Appleton 12. Get an Appleton Signature or Appleton 12
Review by Marcus Ekornes
Very good rum, but not nearly as funky as other jamaican rums
Review by Anonymous
I’m new to sipping liquor so an honest review from a normie, it reminds me of a Tennessee whiskey with a sharp woody alcohol flavor profile. I will save the bottle to revisit after a I’ve tried more. For reference I’ve tried several whiskeys from bourbon to Irish but I’ve only tried kraken rum before this
Review by Philipp F.
The smell is typical Jamaican, pineapple, banana, lots of fruit, light caramel notes, for me a very round bouquet overall. The taste continues the whole thing, lots of banana and pineapple, cramamell and vanilla, light ester notes, very round and mild taste, fun. The finish is in the medium range with light wood notes, fruity and mild. For me, a very good mixer, e.g. in Mai Tai, but can be enjoyed very well on its own.
Review by Stefan Persson
Bought a bottle and tasted this rum in Nerja, Spain. It’s a blend of many distillates, both from column and pot still, aged for a minimum of 8 years. Overall a rum that surprised me in all aspects in a good way. The nose is delicious, fruity, spicy and woody with scents of orange, baking spices and oak. At the palate it’s balanced, smooth, full bodied, sweet, fruity and spicy with flavors of honey, orange, pineapple, apricot, pepper and vanilla. The finish is very smooth and longer than expected.
Review by Mark Wilkinson
Value for money a great all rounder neat and mixed
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
A retaste for me and I still stick to my initial score and statement 😊 I have to say that this one is best used in a mixer.
Review by Tyler Griffith
Smooth, fruity, a bit funky. More sugar on the nose, more fruit on the taste. Not hardly any burn. Easy to sip, very pleasant.
Review by LukaŽiga
7,9:On the nose, roasted oak with caramel, spicy with vanilla, banana, pineapple, citrus fruits, medicinal, metallic touch, light esters, bump into our nosetrils. On aeration, the molasses is fresh, flowery, herbaceous, hints of rubber come out, crème brûlée. 7,6:On the palate, the attack is slightly sweet with smoky wood and caramel, spicy vanilla, cinammon, fruity with banana, orange peel, dried apricots and orange, as the molasses is grassy, herbaceous. 7,5:The finish is quite short, dry and tannic, with grassy molasses, banana, citrus fruits and roasted, smoky, spicy oak..
Review by ReformedPiper
Very different from what I've had so far. I really like the roastedness I'm getting. I can see this might add something different to a cocktail. Definitely more of the alcohol burn than the 40% I've tried so far, and less sweet.
Review by Rumpalumpa
The nose is really nice and fruity, especially right after pouring, when the esters are strongest. Pineapple and banana. The palate is quite different, very spicy and lots of molasses. Pretty good but not quite outstanding
Review by Kieron Wood
This is good solid pot blend rum that combined with the funk gives it that Jamaican classiness ... You can taste lovely orange peel and smooth coffee ... Good solid 8 year rum
Review by rum_sk
Taking few points down but still great rum. ,,A,, as Appleton. I thought that there would be a huge difference or leap between 8 & 12 year version. But no. The only difference is price and a slightly more prominent smell as well as taste in this 8 year version which is more rougher, but in a good way. 12 is more subtle and smoother while keeping the same taste and smell. Other than that, I cannot tell the difference. However, I will compare them against each other directly and revisit the rating but boy I love Appleton Estate.
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Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Single Cask Rum
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Expert review by Rum Runner Labs
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Expert review by The Fat Rum Pirate
"If you want funk from Appelton Estate than Wray and Nephew White Overproof is what you want. If you want an afforadable and very nice every day sipper and a premium mixer - get this in your shopping trolley next time Tarquin takes you to Waitrose. The old Aged 8..."Read full review →
Expert review by The Dunder Hut
"Better in a drink, slightly worse on its own"
Community purchases
507 bottles logged by 52,000+ RumX members. The ratio of closed / opened / emptied, indicates whether this rum is meant to be drunk or is a collector's item.
Also on the wishlist of 157 members.
About the Appleton Estate distillery
The Appleton Estate distillery is located in Jamaica. Rums from Appleton Estate have been reviewed 3,770 times with an average of 7.9/10.
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Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
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