Aroma visualization from community tastings
Admiral Rodney HMS Formidable
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"Nougat, sweet, Spanish style mixed with barrel notes" is how one taster sums it up, and that fits: honey, vanilla, toffee apple and soft oak, with a faint minty freshness on the tail. This 15-year Saint Lucia column rum is gentle and rounded at 40%. Most call it a genuinely easy, sweet sipper — a few wish it hit harder and less watered down.
The community says- Honey and vanilla
- Rounded and easy
- But: Feels watery
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How does Admiral Rodney HMS Formidable taste?
Summarized by AI from community reviews.
Soft, sweet, honey-and-oak easy sipper Well-liked as a soft, honeyed, oak-touched everyday sipper and a good first Saint Lucia rum. The recurring gripe: the 40% leaves it feeling watery, and some find it too sweet.
Aroma profilePeople who like soft, sweet, wood-touched sippers and a gentle first Saint Lucia rum
Anyone wanting high ABV, dry, punchy rum
Style & occasion: Sweet & dessertSipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
20 of 69 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
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What does the community say?
69 community reviews
19 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
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Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by Timo Groeger
Most helpful positive review
Distillery visit St. Lucia Distillers St. Lucia September 2026. For 7 USD you could book a tasting here. The entire range of St. Lucia Distillers was available and you could try whatever you wanted. I liked this one the best, vanilla and caramel, very tasty.
Review by JFehr
Most helpful critical review
Very strange
Review by LukaŽiga
8:On the nose of this rum first impression goes towards the acidity that penetrates first, with fresh but fleshy fruits, a little burst, with a protruding core. Despite a body that we guess is rather light, the rum seduces relentlessly, tirelessly. It is therefore a feeling of concentration that we also perceive quite quickly, with a gently spicy spring honey and an elegant woodiness. As with a perfume, the nose evolves with the air and time. This comparison is not innocent because the rum gains in elegance and refinement. The fruits are certainly quite pushy, but they have been carefully chosen and are presented in a fine tobacco case. 7,8:On the palate, the attack is as with Barbados rums, we can count on a melted and tasty woodiness, with caramel, vanilla and tobacco that spread generously. This mouth does not lack softness, even if we do not feel any sweet sensation. We could rather speak of something honeyed, even a little milky, like an egg custard. The mid-palate raises the level a notch with a handful of well-melted spices that now enhance a more frankly woody rum, with accents of stone fruits in brandy, as the rum is quite strongly dry. 7,8:The finish maintains the complexity and elegance, the palate notes linger on, enveloping everything and closing the experience with a lovely peppery veil..
Review by Stefan Persson
Tasted this rum at my recent visit at the Saint Lucia Distillers (SLD). This one is named after the Admiral’s flagship during the battle of the Saintes in 1782. The different destillates used is taken from the bottom of the Coffey column still, which should make it more complex and powerful despite the low ABV, and was aged between 9 and 12 years in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels. The nose is fruity, spicy, woody, nutty and sweet with scents of raisins, vanilla, nutmeg, oak, walnut, honey and chocolate. At the palate it’s complex, balanced, dry, sweet, spicy and woody with flavors of honey, caramel, cinnamon, vanilla, oak, tobacco and chocolate. The finish is rather long, sweet and spicy.
Review by MarcT
Got this as a present for Christmas, never reviewed it. Strange! To the nose it reminds me of a sweet and sour, think sirupy Marmelade, of the sort I would like to have on my toast, right now. On the tongue, it's more of the same, more wood. Unfortunately is a bit watery, due to the low ABV, but does also gjve a long and heavy mouthfeel. What that would have been at a higher ABV. In the end there is a bit freshness as well... Mint perhaps? It's faint. It must be said, however, that this bottle has been open for quite some time now, and thus had lots time to breathe. The Rum is well made, for the mainstream market obviously, but makes a nice uncomplicated drink by the side. Enjoy! I finished this bottle now, and found that time did not do it well on the end. It got a bit watery in taste, which makes me subtract a point.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
This is a pretty sweet release and I think it's a good rum for beginners actually. Fruity and sweet with nice spices and wood on top. I think they have watered down way too much which is also why the sweetness punched through. Price to quality can be argued 😊
Review by F Kraemmer
Tasting at Oops Århus with Mr. S Hansen & D Jungberg. Nose: Sweetness, spicy, light cask. Palate: Honey spicy fine sweetness, lovely cask influence. Glass: Cask spice. Tasting Romhattens St. Lucia & The Big Rum Day Oops Århus.
Review by Rumpalumpa
For only 40%, the rum is quite strong. The cask strength is accompanied by honey and herbs that go in a minty direction. The result is nicely rounded and the finish relatively long. More % would be great
Review by Mateusz
In my view great rum with typical heaviness is cut by some freshness as well. Quite complex and very pleasant
Review by Fuwi
Tasted at Whisky & more 2026 in Hattingen For the modest 40% it brings more aromas than the Princessa bottling, slight butteriness and sweetness on the nose with a bit of wood and roasted aromas, on the tongue a little more liveliness comes in and it feels more mature and rounder. Overall the rum is a not unpleasant bottling, well suited for beginners.
Review by Rodolphe
A pleasant and nice rum but very (too) sweet. To be reserved for those who like sweetness.
Review by Jakub Hrubý
Strong, very dry, tones of fruit. Not my cup of tea.
Review by Kieron Wood
The pinnacle of the Admiral Rodney HMS series, HMS Formidable is a blend of column-distilled rums aged between nine and 12 years in bourbon barrels. It is named after Admiral Rodney’s flagship in the Battle of the Saints – the crucial battle where he broke the French lines and secured Britain’s dominance over the Caribbean. Nosing Papaya , oak , port , apples , honey Tasting Sweet delicious st Lucian heaven wow ... Starts off with chocolate toffee apple then fades into like a red wine (port) ..vanilla and raisens dominate the finish
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
solid drinking strength from st Lucia!
Review by X-Savior
On The Rocks: On the nose there is a mild and subtle brown sugar, spice, anise and raisin and a hint of vanilla. Taste reveals now what you were expecting. It was a strong hit of sweetness with red apple, oak and spice including raisin and vanilla. Finish is short fading into the buttery mouth feel. Mixed Pepsi Zero: On the nose
Review by jayelle
Nougat, sweet, Spanish style mixed with barrel notes. Finishes kind of harsh.
Review by Oliver
Very mild, calm and sweet Very light Brite
Review by Richard Krupa
Less sweet than Princessa, and better than Princessa.
Review by Chaos Tsume
Rum without interest for me.
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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
Read full review ›There are plenty of the 1931 rums still available and the new 1931 is due soon as well so these rums might struggle to find a following. Many will be turned off by it being all column and "only" 40% ABV. We shall see. Overall this is a really good...
Expert review by In Spiritus Veritas
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Expert review by Rum Diaries Blog
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Community shelf
99 bottles logged by 95 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
29% opened, 6 emptied.
What does Admiral Rodney HMS Formidable cost?
Community paid 48–90 €.
Current best price: 71.30 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 72 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
99 purchased · 77 tasted · 45 wishlist · as of
Details about Admiral Rodney HMS Formidable
A rum from Saint Lucia, distilled by Saint Lucia Distillers, at 40%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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