Goslings Old Rum („Family Reserve“)
A solid stepping stone for drinkers moving beyond basic sweet rums. Goslings Family Reserve leans dark and dessert-like: chocolate, coffee, caramel, dried fruit and oak spice. Works as an evening sipper or in rich cocktails, with most RumX users pleasantly surprised by its depth despite 40% ABV and added sugar.
- Rich chocolate notes
- Coffee and caramel
- Easy sipping
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Stern Magazine Details about Goslings Old Rum („Family Reserve“)
How does Goslings Old Rum („Family Reserve“) taste?
Aggregated from 86 community reviews.
Dark chocolate, coffee, caramel comfort A solid stepping stone for drinkers moving beyond basic sweet rums. Goslings Family Reserve leans dark and dessert-like: chocolate, coffee, caramel, dried fruit and oak spice. Works as an evening sipper or in rich cocktails, with most RumX users pleasantly surprised by its depth despite 40% ABV and added sugar.
Those who enjoy sweet, dark, dessert-like rums (think chocolate, coffee and caramel) and want an easy 40% sipper that still offers some complexity.
Anyone avoiding added sugar, seeking high-ABV intensity, or wanting a very dry, oak-driven profile with zero sweetness.
How is Goslings Old Rum („Family Reserve“) rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict , 7.5 lands squarely in the "Good" band. 70% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 1% 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 86 ratings
Review by Anonymous
Love the normal gosling and enjoyed the family reserve.
Review by Campbell
I’m mixed on this one. The presentation is great, and the rum itself has notes of chocolate, spice, a little bit of dried fruit—all nice things, but it also has an odd chemical property (which I find in the standard goslings), giving it a bitterness and odd mouthfeel that make it a little unpleasant to sip neat.
Review by Arjan91
A while since I had drunk it, but what a tasty dark rum this remains! Tones of Coffee, chocolate, sweetness of raisins and brown sugar.
Review by Stefan Persson
A very dark and complex rum with Christmas spices. The nose is complex, spicy and woody with scents of vanilla, clove, oak and caramel. At the palate and during the medium long finish it’s complex, fruity, spicy, sweet and a little sharp with flavors of plum, cinnamon, clove, caramel and oak.
Review by seefarr
Man! I expected that to be "fine" but it's really good.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
really good Bermuda rum! very complex, fruity, spicy, fresh, slightly bitter, well woody and simply very balanced. one of the better drinking strength Bermuda rums! Certainly cuts a fine figure in corn n oil and in the Bermuda yacht club.
Review by Timo Groeger
The last one for today. But not at all wrong. Nice nose consisting of chocolate and vanilla etc. On the palate there is some wood, otherwise a really good rum, better than the average. Recommendation.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4292 07.10.2023 this was a 7 hour long event with 3 friends and it was a nice day. This one was a huge surprise. Despite the low ABV it still carries a lot of flavours. Fruity and well balanced with great ABV integration. The palate is sweet, medium dry and fruity. The finish is medium long and fresh. Love the caramel touch it has. The empty glass had light chocolate and a faint coffee note. Price to quality is very good in my mind.
Review by Johannes
Dark molasses, coffee, some chocolate, overall a little bitter and thin.
Review by TheJackDrop
"Obviously at Malmö's Sky Bar it's expensive, but overall a pretty straightforward rum. To sum up, my tasting notes: On the nose: Chocolate, Vanilla, Caramel, Brown sugar On the palate: Caramel, Woody, Spicy, Barrel, Dried fruit Finish: Coffee, Woody".
Review by Alexander Rasch
I was quite pleasantly surprised. Very dark profile with lots of chocolate, mocha and then a little too much sweetness. A little too thin at the back. But the nose is quite convincing.
Review by Jarek
Dies hier war ein Kauf noch zu Beginn meiner Rum-Reise, zuerst der Black Seal für einen Dark&Stormy und dann bin ich auf den Family Reserve neugierig geworden. Die Nase finde ich sehr lecker, schwer und dunkel. Eigentlich geht es ähnlich weiter am Gaumen, mit viel Holz und rostigen Noten. Nur leider machen sich die nur 40% zu stark bemerkbar. Und beim Abgang baut der Rum komplett ab. Schade…
Review by Tom 1968
Blend aus verschiedenen alten Rums, welche in Bourbon Fässern lagerten. Gosling gibt es seit 1806 nun in der 7. Generation auf den Bermudas. Für mich leicht unausgewogen, der Alkohol überlagert die Aromen ein wenig. Aber dunkle Schokolade und Röstaromen kämpfen stark dagegen an.
Review by Dave Dahlgren
Lot of raisins dark sweet
Review by Michael Janek
3.5.2024 vůně nijak výrazna, mírňounce káva snad i čokoláda chuť silnější, stopy kávy rozeznatelnejsi, na konci snad i hořký ale není na něm pro mě nic zajímavého, kromě uzávěru lahve
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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 The Fat Rum Pirate
"I'd probably opt for a cooling Dark N' Stormy with plenty ice. For that I would use the Black Seal rather than this. This is a nice enough rum but you could probably get the same kind of experience from less expensive rums and as a sipper it is one..."Read full review →
Community purchases
177 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 31 members.
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I'm Oliver, together with Jakob, Robert and Lukas, we started RumX in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
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