Aroma visualization from community tastings
Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997
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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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Buying advice
These ship to you
Yes, if you're after bold, tropical, funky rums for sipping neat.
Similar in style and available now.
More intense
CoR Clarendon Jamaica No. 16 19959.0/10 (57)299.95 €
Woodier
Enmore Rum Sponge No. 15 19929.0/10 (71)600.00 €
26 rated both: 7 scored it higher, 16 scored Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997 higher, 3 gave both the same score.Sweeter
Velier Foursquare Absolutio 20098.9/10 (258)599.99 €
30 rated both: 5 scored it higher, 22 scored Rum Sponge higher, 3 gave both the same score.
The look inside the bottle
How does Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
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
Style & occasion: Tropical & funkySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
21 of 49 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
What does the community say?
49 community reviews
Rating scale & review checks
On RumX, 7 means “Good” and 8 means “Very good”.
See the full rating guideHow ratings are made and how we check them ›The website shows a selection of written reviews. The distribution also includes ratings without text. All published reviews are available in the RumX app.
28 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 49 ratings, including those without text.
Review by Mirco
Most helpful positive review
wow, amazing! Sensational 1997 Clarendon. Definitely plays in the top league of bottlers. Well integrated alcohol with an insane complexity. Menthol, mint, peach notes that I really like here. Super balanced.
Review by Johnny Rumcask
Most helpful mixed review
The nose immediately announces Jamaica: fruit esters, glue. This continues on the palate. Alcohol could be better integrated, the rum needs a lot of time to breathe. Certainly one of the better EMB representatives, but not my taste profile.
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 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 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 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 Adrian Wahl
What a beast! This is one of the best I've ever tried from Clarendon. Absolute bomb. Tested against the Fine Drams Clarendon 1997. Not cheap, but an excellent bottling. 91/100
Review by TheRhumhoe
A Clarendon that caused a sensation upon release, and now it's clearer why: the nose is rich, intense, and very fragrant, with exotic fruits and spices at first, before medicinal notes (glue, polish, light solvents), floral (lavender), and incense bring a welcome freshness. The profile is open, complex, and elegant. The attack on the palate is powerful and quite complex. It starts fruity, followed closely by a wave of bitterness on leather, wood, and vegetal notes. Rubber, glue, and polish notes on a medicinal background reinforce this impression of power, enhanced by virulent spices (anise, licorice, chili). The 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 side. A Clarendon that manages to make the most of the aromas and the cask (despite a very long stay in tropical climate) to extract the best and offer an intense, deep, and elegant juice. Compared to the Clarendon 1997 from Fine Drams, it seems more accessible on the nose but a bit harsher on the palate. The price is also high, especially considering both bottlings, but the quality of the juice is undeniable: 1997 seems to be a reference year for Clarendon.
Review by Dr.Django
Yes! This one is great. I'll have to compare it with the Fine Drams. Monymusk 1997 delivers again! A great mouthfeel with glue, all kinds of fruits and dark chocolate. Pleasantly woody, heavy on the palate and 'dark-fruity-chocolaty' astringent, plus a dreamy long finish.
Review by SaibotZtar
Great nose with papaya, pineapple, green banana, mango, honeydew melon and olive, also a load of esters... some smoke and herbal notes. On the mouth very balanced, fruity, the herbal notes come out particularly well here, very harmonious and tasty.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4374 22.10.2023 Whisky Live 2023 One i forgot to add from this event ☺️
Review by Thunderbird
This is an absolute pleasure! Oily and soft, it spreads on the palate after previously spoiling the nose with strong glue and heavy fruit. The finish is vegetal fruity and medium length! One of the best Clarendons I've had in the glass
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
A great piece! Guava, mango & red berries meet leather, menthol, as well as vanilla and allspice and a little lavender. Really nice thing with an almost eternal finish. I like it surprisingly well, although I'm not usually a Clarendon fan!
Review by Jarek
Wow! Great cinema! Something new on the nose every time, you can't stop. The palate is just as complex and then a long, spicy, roasted finish. Also lots of wood, but without excess. Too bad I missed this one. Addendum August 2025: I was able to get hold of at least one remainder in a bottle that had been open for some time. Compared to a freshly bottled sample (as far as I can remember), the sticky notes are somewhat weaker. Instead, the menthol note comes through more strongly. Still a brilliant drop. Where else to get it from...? 😢
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 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 Serge
Incredibly great, tropical aged EMB with wonderfully fruity nose in addition to the EMB characteristics. Very similar to Fine Drams and a bit ahead... but in terms of price-performance ratio in second place 😂
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 Godspeed
Good Clarendon with excellent stats but not worth the steep price tag.
Review by Oliver
Excellent Clarendon!
Review by Buddudharma
Perfectly balanced, intense profile that leaves nothing to be desired. Awesome stuff! Edit: After multiple tastings, I have to raise the rating here. For me, the king of the 97er EMBs.
Review by passlemix
It smells like mouse as a natural wine lover would say when the wine lends itself to it. My first 9x so a little event for me. On the nose it's heavy and complex. It smells like fruit but as if crushed at the bottom of the hold of an old sailing ship. Divine mirabelle flash. Lots of wet wood. Needs a bit of time to fully express itself. Next to it Cleopatra glue doesn't weigh much. Whiffs of red fruits and bubble gum at times. A nose of great class. On the palate it's rich too: pear charlotte, pepper, menthol, fruits of all kinds. The finish is very pleasant but could have been even longer even if it's already really good, it's really just to find a little flaw.
Review by Mentalo
Outstanding Clarendon. Even the alcohol is well integrated for Clarendon standards. The individual flavor notes harmonize very well. Pleasant sweetness, very fruity, pleasant wood note, menthol. You have to like the combination, but if you like it, then this bottling from Rumsponge delivers.
Review by kclo
Simply beautiful, a masterpiece from nose to finish
Review by kargoles
This rum is very promising on the nose despite the alcohol profile that remains present. Slightly tart tropical fruits, refined sweetness. On the palate a more spicy and mentholated profile arrives on the tart pineapple, a delicate wood (which is not to my taste) takes over. A medium finish mentholated and peppery that goes into bitterness because of the wood. In short, an interesting Jamaican even if not to my taste because of the too marked wood.
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 jems5
Nose of caramelized pear, pepper and nutmeg Medium attack, damp wood, very smoky Finish on ash with a hint of bitterness
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.
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
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!
Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997 at live auctions
A bid is not a final price: the house sets the buyer's premium, shipping and any customs duty.
All live auctions ›Community shelf
20 bottles logged by 19 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
5% opened, 0 emptied.
What did the community pay for Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997?
Community paid 300–384 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 399 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
20 purchased · 52 tasted · 53 wishlist · as of
Details about Clarendon Rum Sponge No. 20 1997
A Pot Still Rum from Jamaica, bottled by Decadent Drinks LTD, at 63%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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