Aroma visualization from community tastings
Fine Drams Clarendon Fine Old Jamaican Rum (Aficionados) EMB 1995
Overripe mango, passion fruit and lime crash into old dusty oak here — a tropically-aged Clarendon from 1995 that most reviewers rank near the top of the vintage. Nearly 28 years give it licorice, vanilla, mint and a fleshy, smoky edge, but at 68.3% it stays intense, dry and bitter on the wood. Several say the alcohol is beautifully integrated; a few find it a touch hot and tannic.
The community says- Loud tropical fruit
- Long complex finish
- Well-integrated 68%
View price history
10 more payment methodsShopping safely on RumX Returns & cancellation
- Secure payment. You pay via RumX with PayPal, Klarna or card. Your payment data is encrypted and we never store your full card details.
- Clear seller. Sold and shipped directly by the partner shop. And you're never on your own: RumX handles support and communication with the shop, so you always get excellent service, whichever shop you order from.
- Honest shop ratings. The stars show your service experience with the shop, not the rum score. They come from RumX users, and critical ones stay visible.
- Returns & cancellation. Your purchase contract is with the shop, so returns and cancellations run through them under their own policy and your statutory rights. If anything goes wrong, RumX helps you sort it out.
The look inside the bottle
How does Fine Drams Clarendon Fine Old Jamaican Rum (Aficionados) EMB 1995 taste?
Aggregated from 99 community reviews.
Old tropical Clarendon: fruit meets bitter oak Consensus is a top-tier vintage Jamaican — fruit-forward yet heavily woody, and long. The catch: the full 68.3% burns for some, and the oak turns bitter neat, so water helps.
fans of aged tropical Jamaican pot-still
beginners and anyone put off by bitter oak
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
46 of 99 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Recommendation
Your next rum
One difference each to this rum.
Fruitier
Hampden Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 32 C<>H 1990
9.1/10390 €
Milder
Enmore Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 39 Guyana REV 2006
8.7/10350 €First choice: 22 of 36 tasters who tried both prefer it.
How is Fine Drams Clarendon Fine Old Jamaican Rum (Aficionados) EMB 1995 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 9.0 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?
99% rate it 8 or higher. 19 selected write-ups from 99 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by cigares
RumX Awards 2023 et goûté avec des amis. La couleur est foncée et marque les 28 ans d’âge. Le nez est très fruité avec des fruits sur-mûrs dont de l’ananas, du citron vert, un soupçon d’encoustique et un boisé jeune et une légère colle Cémentite. La bouche est plutôt douce compte tenu des 68,3 %, avec une corbeille de fruits qui envahit le palais, mirabelle, carambole, mangue et prune. De l’acidité et du miel et une belle fraîcheur discrète qui soutient le tout. La finale est très belle, longue et complexe, sur de la lime, des herbes et une belle amertume liée au bois. Un très beau rhum et un coup de cœur pour son évolutivité, sa complexité avec des fruits tellement nombreux que j’ai de la peine à les définir. Regoûté en face du 23 ans et me semble un petit peu moins bon.
Review by Beancheese
This one is simply not for me as much as I wanted to love this. The nose was wonderful and I had extremely high hopes for this one after nosing for quite some time. It offered fruits, sweetness, wood, vanilla, hints of passion fruit and some mint, without anything being too overpowering. The palate, on the other hand, was simply too dry, bitter, intense and wood and spice forward for me. There is fruit behind it but this does not strike me as being in balance - the upfront intensity and bitterness dominates even when the fruit makes an appearance. You can also feel every bit of the 68% ABV despite its age. Nice length on this one for sure, it lingers and stays with you but largely as a byproduct of the intensity that this one carries.
Review by Jakob
It is already apparent on the nose, but on the palate it is finally clear: this is a top representative from the 1995 Clarendon vintage. Fully ripe tropical fruit, mint, wood, even the age is recognizable - in a positive sense. Very complex, yet round, fresh, yet heavy - the EMB profile of the 1995 vintage is definitely one of the best of the EMB profile and also sets benchmarks for Jamaican releases in general. This rum is further proof of this - only the alcohol integration is not quite on a par with its sister releases. Nevertheless, an exquisite release.
Review by Frank
Oh yes, I am thrilled to the max with this old tropical aged EMB. Nose: incredibly intense and voluminous, complex and dense. Very tasty! Lots of tropical fruit, pleasant wood, nicely spicy while still fresh and with wonderfully integrated high ABV. First, intense lemon and lime with orange zest and passion fruit and papaya. Light pineapple and distinct gooseberry come in. Besides that, floral with violets. The freshness comes not only from the lemon, but also from a light mint note. The fruit is capped by restrained esters and the associated fine vinegar essence, which also goes in the direction of polish. Fragrant cherry wood with neat vanilla and some black pepper round out the picture. Fantastic. 9.3 Palate: the nose continues consistently full-bodied and delicious on the palate. Again, that intense fruit with lime, passion fruit and pineapple. Here now also more intense mint with even more violet, which brings a clear association towards soap. Out the back stronger flavors of toasted barrel, vanilla, slightly bacony with salt. Eerily beautiful. 9.1 This '95 EMB is totally coherent. Makes a decent impression even after half an hour in the glass and is just delicious.
Review by Nivius
This rum has an extreme intensity of flavor..... he would only not burn sooooo - you have it with the good stuff anyway mainly with barrel strengths to do and the alcohol I also usually no longer taste - but this one and also his little brother, which make ouch when drinking....But if you put up with that, you are rewarded with an extremely tasty mix of cloves, cinnamon and pepper and a for the amount of wood, very present fruitiness.I find the hype around these bottles definitely justified and am very happy to be able to try something tasty, at a pleasant price.
Review by Vincent D
Despite a long aeration, the nose is rather closed, but seems to be greedier than its 1997 sibling. On the palate, the wood is first felt. Then a strong intensity takes over, giving way to ripe fruit. In the end, I find it much less expressive than the 1997, even if the alcohol is less present (well, you can still taste the 68°...).
Review by Rodolphe
The 95 is a more woody profile than the 97, more greedy but less fruity. With aeration, it becomes more and more supple and pleasant. Noble wood, licorice and vanilla supported behind by some very ripe tropical fruits. Great depth. I love it. The mouth is of the same level, it is a very great rum. I find that a well done reduction towards 60/62% would have made it a bit more accessible. But it's a wonderful product, at a great price. I'm glad I picked up a bottle for myself!
Review by mick
An emb 95 tropique at this price arouses the curiosity, opened bottle for an immediate tasting, already light modification to the oxy, one is on a very old rum oriented on the wood, dusty wood, acid reglisse.The alcohol is better integrated compared to its cousin the paradisetto, it seems to be 55°, the fruits appear in mouth as well as a bitter/dirty point, it's very good but for me not 9, I find it a little short at the end of mouth, but be careful it's heavy anyway, it reminds me more of the 97 begno in fact, compared to the king paradisetto it's very easy to drink, the velier being very astringent at the attack in mouth, the ratio quality/price is incredible, has.see after 1 month of oxy....70 cl/200€ TOP de chez top, the continuation with the 23 years ds a few days
Review by DomM
Even among the 95 vintage, this one is quite intense. Despite some time to oxidize in the opened bottle, the FD needs quite some time to open up. It remains very intense on the nose as well as on the palate delivering on the sought after profile, which I quite enjoy. On its own, I like to bottling very much but feel that (from memory) there are some sister casks out there, which provide a bit more complexity while being more accessible. Still very good in my book.
Review by Gregor
Nase: Frucht und Holz. Erst etwas schwarze Schokolade, Haselnuss, saftige Pfirsich, Ananas, Banane, Mango, grüner Apfel, Beerenmischung, Holz nichts aufdringlich im Vordergrund, man kann fast ewig riechen Gaumen: schöne Mischung aus Schokolade, getrockneten Weinbeeren, Beerenmix, Pflaumen gefolgt von tropischen Früchten, Tabaknote und Holz und sogar noch etwas feuchtes Gras, Alkohol im Abgang und present aber trotzdem geil
Review by Joachim Guger
A beautiful, reddish-brown color. A really great nose. Woody, spicy, licorice and dried fruit. A hint of Hampden. Varnish and solvent. Warm, balanced and very powerful. And then tar. Very complex. Then very strong in the mouth (felt more than 65%), slightly furry. Complex spices, caramel, wood. Medium long finish. Great rum! Many thanks to Michael for the great blind sample!
Review by mto75
The FD 95 in comparison with the Sponge and FD 97. The profile of the two 97s is definitely different from the 95. The 95 waits with a passion fruit note, and goes a little more in the direction of vanilla. But also on the 95, decent bean wax, overripe, tropical fruit (mango), barrel. On the palate rubber, barrel, passion fruit. Black tea on the finish. I like it at least as much as the 97.
Review by Galli33
2nd place of my Clarendon 1995 EMB tasting😬😉🫨🤤 Nose: Very fruity, overripe fruits 😬 reminds me somewhere on a LP, is there also a hint of nail polish in the background 🤔 Mouth: A remarkable mix of wood, licorice, minty and fruity notes 🤤🫨 Finish: Long, woody and herbal(also a bit bitter and astringen -points), . The alcohol is integrated very well..
Review by Thunderbird
This is also an outstanding representative of the 95 vintage! Not quite as strong as the 97, but real top class! Altogether a little stronger and more demanding, definitely not a rum for beginners! It lacks the good alcohol integration, otherwise it would have deserved a few more points
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
I like it even better than the 97. Really intense after passion fruit, lime and other tropical fruits, lots of menthol, violets and vanilla pulp, as well as the slightly meaty, bacony note typical of emb. Really unusual and wacky.
Review by Speedflo
Very nice bottling and definitely a very cool cask. Classic, heavy clarendon profile and compared to the 1997 more herbs and fruitiness on the palate and nose. The bottlings in a super size, for flippers uniteressant and PLV top!
Review by Serge
A little closed and aggressive at first, but benefits significantly from a bit of standing time. All in all, however, for a 95 EMB it remains in the midfield for me. Considering the cool bottle size and the price, it's still quite attractive.
Review by Mirco
For me, the two Fine Drams Clarendons are THE releases of 2023. Typical EMB profile, no exception. This 95 bottling performs exceptionally well in EMB crosstasting. Great PLV. In the overall field, this rum is slightly behind.
Review by Basti
I like it much better than the first tasting, even if it probably won't become my favorite profile. The nose is really super good, but on the palate the Clarendons are usually too medicinal/peppery for me.
No reviews match this filter.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by The Auditor Reviews
Read full review →
Expert review by The Dunder Hut
What a fruit bomb, broody and fruity, the spice really is downtowned in comparison with the fruit. A lovely melange of everything you want in a nice bottle of small size. I really.kiss more of the independent bottler
Live auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Market value
Avg. community purchase price 110 €
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 Fine Drams Clarendon Fine Old Jamaican Rum (Aficionados) EMB 1995
A Pot Still Rum from Jamaica, bottled by Fine Drams, at 68,3%.
Community purchases
110 bottles logged by 77 collectors.
A drinker & collector.
20% opened, 9 emptied and repurchased.
What did the community pay for Fine Drams Clarendon Fine Old Jamaican Rum (Aficionados) EMB 1995?
Community paid 104–115 €.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
110 purchased · 101 tasted · 58 wishlist · as of
Read on in the RumX Guide
You may also enjoy
Rum enthusiasts who like this rum have also given the following rums high ratings:
Hampden Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 18 Treasure Cask Jamaica HLCF 1992
Hampden Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 18 Treasure Cask Jamaica HLCF 1992Rounded, funky old Hampden HLCF sipper
Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 31 (Navy Blend Rum HQNB)
Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 31 (Navy Blend Rum HQNB)Intense, complex old navy blend
New Yarmouth Flensburg Rum Company The Bottle Shop 1994
New Yarmouth Flensburg Rum Company The Bottle Shop 1994Coconut-and-wood old Jamaican at cask strength
Clarendon Rum Artesanal Jamaica Rum EMB 1995
Clarendon Rum Artesanal Jamaica Rum EMB 1995Deep, fruity Clarendon that needs time and air
Wu Dram Clan Finest Jamaican Rum
Wu Dram Clan Finest Jamaican RumFruity, mellow old Jamaican, light on funk
Clarendon Flensburg Rum Company The Bottle Shop EMB 1995
Clarendon Flensburg Rum Company The Bottle Shop EMB 1995Old tropical Clarendon, peach and menthol
Never miss a price drop.
Set a target price in the app, and we'll let you know as soon as the rum becomes available at that price from one of our partner stores. This works for any rum on your wish list.
Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
I'm Oliver, and RumX began in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
What began as my digital tasting diary is now the world's most comprehensive platform for rum fans, today carried by a small team with Jakob, Lukas and Katharina, with Robert supporting us as a freelancer. We combine the collective intelligence of our community with an integrated marketplace, so you can choose with confidence, without paperwork, detours, or expert jargon.
Oliver, Stuttgart
About RumX →YouTube channel (in German)
