Aroma visualization from community tastings
Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997
Here's the surprise: at 63% this is far tamer than the number suggests — tasters say you barely feel the alcohol. The nose fires off glue, ripe mango and pineapple, then the palate turns oily and soft with menthol, leather and dark chocolate bitterness. Give it air and a drop of water and the tropical fruit blooms. Even Clarendon skeptics kept coming around. One caveat: it needs patience and it's very limited.
The community says- Deep tropical fruit
- Alcohol well hidden
- Long, complex finish
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The look inside the bottle
How does Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997 taste?
Aggregated from 49 community reviews.
Oily, tropical old Clarendon with buried heat Loved almost across the board — a rich, tropical 1997 Clarendon with well-buried alcohol and endless finish. A few felt the wood or bitterness edged over, and the steep price came up often.
Experienced Jamaica fans who chase tropical-aged EMB Clarendon
Beginners, and anyone put off by heavy wood and glue-ester intensity
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
21 of 49 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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How is Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 9.1 sits in the “Excellent” band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Community voices
What does the community say?
98% rate it 8 or higher. 19 selected write-ups from 49 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Warming up for what will probably be an extended tasting in the evening. I took more time for this rum, it deserves it. Nose: Very restrained, alcohol barely noticeable, aromas but also only light, some menthol, subtle glue, a hint of dried wallpaper paste, later a little more fruity, alternating between not very ripe yellow and red fruits, but still olfactorily restrained Palate: Again some menthol, but from a rather bitter minty herb (would have blindly guessed an older T.D.L), clearly long tropical storage, you can literally feel the old wooden barrel, properly astringent, but spreads evenly in the mouth, especially in the middle section audrucksstarker tap dance on the tongue; fat, sluggish streaks drawing in the glass Overall impression: Powerful rum from the EMB Champions League, particularly convincing on the palate, which would only just have to admit defeat in the final against the EMB from Fine Drams (RX16023) due to a slightly less consistent pull towards the goal (i.e. slightly less intensity).
Review by passlemix
It smells like a mouse, as a natural wine lover would say, when the wine lends itself to it. My first 9x, a small event for me. The nose is heavy and complex. It smells of fruit, but as if crushed at the bottom of an old rigging. Divine mirabelle flash. Lots of damp wood. Needs time to fully express itself. The Cleopatra glue doesn't weigh much next to it. Scents of red fruit and bubble gum at times. A classy nose. The palate is equally rich: pear charlotte, pepper, menthol, fruit of all kinds. The finish is very pleasant, but could have been even longer, even if it's already pretty good.
Review by TheRhumhoe
A Clarendon that caused a sensation on release, and it's easy to see why: the nose is rich, intense and highly perfumed, with exotic fruits and spices at first, before medicinal notes (glue, polish, light solvents), floral notes (lavender) and incense bring a welcome freshness. The profile is open, complex and elegant. The attack on the palate is powerful and fairly complex. A fruity attack is followed closely by a wave of bitterness on leather, wood and vegetal notes. Notes of rubber, glue and polish on a medicinal background reinforce this impression of power, enhanced by virulent spices (anise, licorice, pepper). Alcohol is present but well integrated. The finish is bitter, long and warm on this very spicy, aromatic and versatile profile, on the vegetal, fruity, dark and cocoa-flavored side. A Clarendon that succeeds in taking advantage of the aromas and the cask (despite a very long stay in a tropical climate) to extract the best and offer an intense, deep and elegant juice. Compared to Fine Drams' Clarendon 1997, it seems more accessible on the nose, but a little harsher on the palate. The price is also high, especially if you compare the two bottlings, but the quality of the juice is undeniable: 1997 seems to be a benchmark year for Clarendon.
Review by mto75
the Sponge in direct comparison with the Fine Drams. Both mega intense and complex, with overripe fruit (overripe mango), rubber, floor wax, vanillle, old barrel...the FD goes a little more in the direction of sweet and sour mango chutney, the Sponge is a little rounder and sweeter (tropical fruit salad). The palate is both super intense as well, with rubber, bicycle inner tube, barrel, overripe tropical fruit, the finish is long with black tea and barrel / tannins. With its lower ABV, the Sponge seems a wwnig more approachable. Bottom line, though, I can't come up with a clear winner. Both top notch!
Review by cigares
A rum tasted at the WLP. A generous nose with lots of fruit, tropical and yellow with a slight acidity. Smokiness, varnished wood and pear cake. The palate opens on a peppery note, but the fruit rises in power with noble wood. The finish is, like this rum as a whole, balanced, long with a noble bitterness. The empty glass reveals even more flavors. Tasted again in direct comparison with the RA 1995 EMB and it's utterly delicious, even if it's livelier with more pronounced fruit.
Review by RumTaTa
Tasted in direct comparison with the Fine Spirits Clarendon 23 (RX16023).Blind I could probably not distinguish the two. The FD seems to me a touch funkiger and the Sponge by nuances milder and fruity in the nose.On the palate the same: very great similarity, as well as in the aftertaste. Nice that two excellent 97 Clarendons appear here. The Sponge gets one point less because of the worse P / L ratio and because the FD has a super practical bottle size.
Review by Joachim Guger
Caramel and banana bread. Restrained polish and spices. Again, exemplary wood maturity. Warm, powerful. Perfectly balanced and - as the French would say - molten. Great mouthfeel!!! Funky. Long and very good finish. A highlight! Much rounder compared to the Fine Drams, more focus on caramel and banana bread. More drinkable, but also much more expensive. Not good for the wallet.😀 Beautiful label! Thanks to Bonn for this great sample!!🙏
Review by Rodolphe
😍😍 what a killer! Perfect balance between the greediness of the barrel and the tropical fruits! An enchanting nose. On the palate, it's very fruity, we find the slightly fermented fruits typical of Clarendon but without being sickening as it is sometimes the case. I also find the touch of almond. It's super balanced, really great. Another bottle from sponge that is really good! It's becoming usual.
Review by Piotr Ignasiak
Very well balanced, dense in moutfeel. For me it benefited greatly with longer airing, as well as some drops of water, then it hit a great balance, with more fruitiness released bedsides just dark chocolate bitterness. It becomes a very elegant and complex sipper. I'm saying this while acknowledging that Clarendon profile has not been my favorite thus far.
Review by Dr.Django
Yes! It's super. I'll have to compare it with the Fine Drams. Monymusk 1997 delivers again! A great mouthfeel with glue, all kinds of fruit and dark chocolate. Pleasantly woody, heavy on the palate and "dark fruity-chocolatey" astringent, with a fantastic long finish.
Review by Thunderbird
This is an absolute delight! Oily and soft, it spreads across the palate after previously treating the nose to strong stickiness and heavy fruit. The finish is herbal fruity and medium length!One of the best Clarendon I had in the glass
Review by Jarek
Wow! Great cinema! Something new on the nose every time, you can't stop. Just as complex on the palate and then a long, spicy, roasty finish. Also lots of wood, but without excess. Too bad I missed it.
Review by Serge
Insanely great, tropically ripened EMB with wonderfully fruity nose in addition to the EMB characteristics. Very similar to the Fine Drams and a track ahead ... but for the PLV in second place 😂.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Crass part! Guava, mango & red berries meet leather, menthol, as well as vanilla and allspice and some lavender. Really nice thing with a sheer eternal finish. I like surprisingly well!
Review by Adrian Wahl
What a device! This is one of the best I have ever tasted Clarendon. Absolute grenade. Tested against the Fine Drams Clarendon 1997. Not cheap, but an excellent bottling. 91/100
Review by Michal S
Exceptional rum, rich in aroma (papaya, pineapple, lavender) and taste (tropical fruit, leather, menthol), all in perfect harmony, perfectly integrated alcohol. Recommended.
Review by Tendero Pablo
Magnificent selection ....un profile more fruity than usual ...but a perfect year for Clarendon..I would even say the benchmark year.
Review by jems5
Nose of caramelized pear, pepper and nutmeg Medium attack, damp wood, very smoky Finish on ash with a hint of bitterness
Review by Buddudharma
Perfectly balanced, intense profile that leaves nothing to be desired. Great stuff!
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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 Rob Bauer
After the Monymusk Velier 1997 For Begnoni, this is the only 1997 Mony on the market so far. Almost completely tropically matured (22 years). With Clarendon / Monymusk is different from Hampden and Long Pond in my experience always: Tropical >>> Continental.On the part I was particularly looking forward! Also find the cubist, Braque-like label very successful! In the nose explodes first the glue! Almost already uitvlugtisch. Uhu, Pattex and tropical fruits, mainly mangos and pineapple, fire from all pipes. Really, really cool. After a while in the glass, light floral notes also come through, lavender first and foremost, which is typical old EMBs for me. But only very lightly. Dark chocolate and cedar notes. Warm coconut oil. But you also find a bit of overcooked strawberry jam and that Guadeloupe incense note you really only find in old Montebellos and Gardels. You have to give the bouquet time though. Fantastic bouquet.On the palate, a fantastic heavy sweetness and chocolate bitterness combine with the fine Jamaica acidity of the tropical fruits to create a wave of flavors that floods the entire mouth. Escape is futile! But in such a thing one drowns very gladly. While some 1995 EMB representatives can easily slip into the too woody, the wood is perfectly integrated here. The same goes for the alcohol. The 63% is hardly noticeable! With 22 years of tropical aging, the finish is naturally eternal. Conclusion: This is in no way inferior to the Velier representative. It's no secret that I'm an absolute Monymusk EMB fan, and prefer tropically aged Monymusks due to their heaviness and fatness, for example, almost all Hampdens when it comes to modern Jamaica rum (caution, subjective matter of taste!). This bottling plays directly times right up in the Jamaica Champions League and gets a whopping 92/100 points. Chapeau to Angus MacRaild for that cask pick!
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Market value
Avg. community purchase price 399 €
What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.
Details about Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997
A Pot Still Rum from Jamaica, bottled by Decadent Drinks LTD, at 63%.
Community purchases
20 bottles logged by 19 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
5% opened, 0 emptied and repurchased.
What did the community pay for Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997?
Community paid 297–384 €.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
20 purchased · 52 tasted · 52 wishlist · as of
Read on in the RumX Guide
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