Aroma visualization from community tastings
English Harbour 25 Years 1981
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Sip this one neat and slow — it's an old-school Antigua column-still rum, distilled 1981 and aged 25 years. Caramel, vanilla and molasses lead, with a soft smoky, woody finish. Round, balanced and gently sweet, everything sits in its place. The catch that comes up again and again: bottled at 40%, it reads thin and diluted, and several drinkers wish it had kept its cask strength.
The community says- Rounded and balanced
- Genuine 25y depth
- But: Thin at 40%
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Secure payment Sold by ROW Spirits Returns & cancellation
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10 more payment methodsOffers & prices
No shop currently delivers to Germany.
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The look inside the bottle
How does English Harbour 25 Years 1981 taste?
Summarized by AI from 16 community reviews.
Elegant old column-still rum, soft at 40% Beautifully polished and rounded, but the 40% dilution is the recurring gripe — tasters love the elegance yet wish for more power and body.
Aroma profilefans of soft, aged column-still rum
anyone wanting cask-strength power
Style & occasion: Sweet & dessertMature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
7 of 16 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
Recommendation
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Community voices
What does the community say?
16 community reviews
6 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Top 25% of Antigua rums
Rate it in the app
Ranges include their upper bound: “7–8” means above 7 up to and including 8. See the full rating guide
Review by Stefan Persson
Most helpful positive review
It’s a great super smooth rum and the best column still that I’ve ever tasted. Earlier before the price went up to todays levels I bought every bottle I found following the advice I read somewhere “If you got the chance to buy a bottle, don’t miss it”.
Review by DomM
Most helpful mixed review
I like the nose. On the palate you can detect that this is aged for quite some time. However, it feels very thin and diluted (here compared to Appleton 21y) and rather sweet overall.
Review by Leo Krüper
Beautiful rum from another time. Very round, balanced, sweet, old, woody. Without flaws. Unfortunately, we are used to more rough edges and %% these days, otherwise my rating would be much higher. Top rum certainly at the time.
Review by Jarek
The added sugar might be forgiven, the amount doesn't seem high. But diluting to 40% robs the rum of all its strength and remains an unforgivable sin. Shame... Addendum: Today I treated myself to another 2cl sample and the impression is confirmed again. I would have loved to try the rum at cask strength.
Review by Pavel Ungr, RumRock
Vintage 1981, 25 years of aging. With 8.0 out of 10, it's a very good bottle, though not the top of my ranking.
Review by wally74
Mega but unfortunately no longer available
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
Read full review →Yes I'm pretty sure I would. This isn't rum that will put hairs on your chest nor is it Pyrat or Zacapa - it does a lot of things very well but ultimately lets itself down when really it had no need to.
Community shelf
44 bottles logged by 32 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
11% opened, 3 emptied.
What does English Harbour 25 Years 1981 cost?
Community paid 130–344 €.
Current best price: 399.00 € – above the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 379 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
44 purchased · 17 tasted · 19 wishlist · as of
Details about English Harbour 25 Years 1981
A Column Still Rum from Antigua, distilled by The Antigua Distillery, at 40%.
About the The Antigua Distillery distillery
The The Antigua Distillery distillery is located in Antigua. Rums from The Antigua Distillery have been reviewed 1,380 times with an average of 7.9/10.
To The Antigua Distillery →Read on in the RumX Guide
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