Aroma visualization from community tastings
Taste
Woody, Dried fruit, Leather
Most mentioned across 22 tasting notes
- Perfect for
- fans of old, wood-forward Spanish-style rum
- Less suitable for
- anyone wanting a rich, oily body
The Whisky Jury The Many Faces of Rum 1978
Anyone drawn to old, wood-driven Cuban rum will find plenty to chew on here. Forty-four years in the barrel show up as leather, dark chocolate, coffee and raisin, with a dry, tannic wood note that grows in the finish. The nose is the star; several tasters warn the palate thins out fast and the age erases some of the fruit. A serious drop, if not quite the fireworks the specs promise.
The community says- Leather & dark cocoa
- Real 44-year depth
- Less suitable for: anyone wanting a rich, oily body
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Live auctions
Offers & prices
No shop currently delivers to Germany.
Auction results: 197–264 € (4 sales in 24 months, incl. buyer's premium, latest 08/2026). How the range is built ›
Buying advice
These ship to you
Yes, if you're after bold, mature, oaky rums for sipping neat.
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The look inside the bottle
How does The Whisky Jury The Many Faces of Rum 1978 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Old, woody Cuban with a thin finish Most owners rate it high and enjoy the leathery, chocolate-and-wood depth — just temper expectations: the palate runs thin and the age brings less complexity than the numbers suggest.
fans of old, wood-forward Spanish-style rum
anyone wanting a rich, oily body
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
22 of 56 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
What does the community say?
56 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.
32 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 56 ratings, including those without text.
Review by Jakob
Most helpful positive review
Interesting profile that definitely shows its age, but without being overpowering. Chocolate and dried fruit aromas add some sweetness, but remain in the background due to the barrel aromas, milk coffee, leathery meat notes and fresh fruit aromas. Well-balanced and easy to drink, delicious, just a little too little pointed in the individual aromas, which is somewhat at the expense of complexity.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Most helpful mixed review
You have to be strong now: This rum is a bitter disappointment for me and does not live up to my high expectations. While it still gives a hint of its Cuban origins on the nose at the beginning and is quite pleasing, I smell something like thickened, dark cherry juice (syrup, but later sweaty feet), and still maintains the level on the palate at the beginning (without being too weak on the chest for me!), it unfortunately falls off enormously in the finish, which is important for me, as a disgusting resinous note dominates, which strangely reminds me of the failed Virgin Oak experiment RX16012. The nose just about saves the rum in the 70s range. Sorry, but that's my subjective impression, which shouldn't stop you from tasting this Methuselah for yourself. Update 2024-02-06: Tasted the rum again together with Lot-NAS and now have to apologize - at least a little: After a very long time to breathe, the rum seems even more syrupy, as if thickened. I no longer notice the unpleasant resin taste. Conclusion: A beautiful, ancient sipper with unusual power, a flagship of the Spanish style, even if not quite round. Definitely needs a long breath! Update 2024-04-10: Finally direct tasting today against the Cuban 1992 from Wu Dram Clan (RX18823) and the difference could hardly be greater. I see my earlier separate assessments confirmed: They may both come from the same distillery, but where I taste succinctly fine cocoa in the 92, in the 78 it's just penetrating tasting damp, charred wood - like a campfire that was put out yesterday and got rain overnight. The 78 has simply been in the barrel too long.
Review by SaibotZtar
1000s of tastings... it should be something special... at least that's what I thought. Nose Lots of dried fruit grape, raisin ... Dark chocolate, caramel and a delicious sweetness. Palate Less fruity... Chocolate some coffee and wood .... lots of bitters .... Finish... Wood and bitter notes, somewhat musty. I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. Nose Top Palate Flop probably hits it quite well ... although flop is a bit harsh 🤗 because it tastes good but just not what I expected or hoped for.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4598 03.02.2024 Got back from shopping in Germany and picking up my packages with samples and bottles. Thank you Gunnar for the nice samples for the DK community. This rum needs to rest for a good while before it opens up properly. I like it and it's a pretty powerful rum when thinking about most Cuban releases we see. It's also one of those rums that will split waters ☺️ Nose Elegant and light, round, fruity, light smoke, faint floral, glue. Palate Medium dry, wood, roasted, fruity, spicy, light chocolate, faint caramel. Finish Very long, dry, spicy, wood, roasted, dried fruit. Beautiful slow moving curtains in the glass. The empty glass has stronger chocolate, tannins, faint workshop notes.
Review by zabo
Edit: On the spontaneous Cuba evening, the RX18823, the RX17933 and the RX20297 competed against each other. For me, the bottling from The Whisky Agency is the winner. All are more on the woody side and seem a little one-dimensional. I put the WuDram in last place, as it has an unpleasant acidity in the taste. I personally expected a little more from this rum. The basic data actually sounded quite exciting. But unfortunately it disappoints a little. Not bad, but not convincing enough.
Review by Dr.Django
A small but fine Cubatasting is on the agenda today. Ever since I tried the Valdespino, I've been looking for a similar profile (tobacco, leather, dark fruit, old wood, fireplace, light smoke, full-bodied, oily and fat texture) at cask strength. Let's see if we can find it here. A Venezuelan has also sneaked in =P 1st Plantation Cuba: Dances out of line in terms of color. Fruitier and not at all what I imagine my Cuban to be like. The sweetest and also by far the most boring of the tasting. 75 pts (second tasting: -2 pts) 2nd Rome Deluxe Cuba: A positive surprise at.first tasting and still very tasty. Has the aromas mentioned at the beginning, also some yellow fruits, plus slightly creamy and quite wild on the palate. Not overly complex, but very pleasing. 86 pts (second tasting: +2 pts) 3rd Wudramclan Cuba 1992: Tastes like the consistent evolution of Romdeluxe's Cuban. Not as wild, somewhat more one-dimensional fruit flavors, much more leather and tobacco, some ash. Very short and fruity-ashy finish. 85 pts. 4th The Whisky Jury Cuba 1978: When this came out I had high hopes: great bottler, almost unbelievable key data, that color... In this comparison, it seems to me that the Cubans not only lose their impetuousness with age, but also their variety of aromas and structure. All the fruit in this rum is burnt, strangely enough this rum is very light on the tongue and not fat and oily as I had hoped. The tobacco, the wood and the fruit literally turn to ash in the mouth. Somehow I like that, but on the other hand it is not at all an upgrade to the Rom Deluxe Cuban, if you compare them directly. 85 pts (third tasting: -4 pts) 5th Cadenheads Dictador 26 yo: My Cuban in a Venezuelan coat! That's how I imagine it! Great aromas, great oily, fat structure. Tobacco, old wood, some ash (for me still and fitting in the aroma spectrum). <3 88 pts. Many thanks to Mto75 for the samples!
Review by Leo Krüper
Caramelized ashtray. A total failure for the price.
Review by Tschusikowsky
Blind würde ich das alter nicht herausschmecken. Der Rum ist zwar vom holz geprägt aber keinenfalls übermässig. Im Gegenteil er ist noch relativ fruchtig. Unterwegs kamen mir Assoziationen von Gummifröschen und Malibu. Tropisch Früchte, Leder, Tabak, Kokosnuss, karamell, Vanille, Pfirsich und Maracuja. Mir hat er beim ersten mal besser gefallen. Insgesamt doch sehr kurzer Abgang.
Review by DomM
Intense on the nose dominated by wood and leathery notes. High intensity on the palate as well. Compared to the 92 WDC, I don’t get too much fruity notes here. The TWJ presents a very dark profile. Wood, tobacco, dark chocolate and intens coffee/mocca notes. It is not overly dry, however. There is still sweetness and some vanilla in the mix. This is good stuff. Yet it very much gravitates towards said dark notes, ie less complex than the WDC. I think this has some potential to divide opinions… for me the profile at some points is akin to whisky. While I‘m not much into whisky, I find this quite interesting here. Definitely a great bottling to try!
Review by mto75
unmistakably Spanish style on the nose, but very heavy, sticky sweet. Toffee / butterscotch, tropical wood and acacia honey come to mind. A thin menthol veil over the whole thing...On the palate, nutty-sweet, coffee, old cask with a slightly tart note on the finish...the profile reminds me a little of the 26-year-old Cadenhead Dictador, which I found a little more varied. The 44 years in the cask here seem a little overwhelming. However, it is definitely worthy of all honors to bottle such a time-honored rum (at a still quite moderate price).
Review by Nivius
I would have blindly guessed a Longpond here and would never have guessed Cuba. Definitely fermented fruit/ester on the nose and palate. If you leave it to stand for a while, an aroma of milk chocolate develops, accompanied by roasted notes of coffee. Despite the many aromas, or perhaps because of them, this rum seems very unrounded, and a certain alcoholic sharpness also bothers me. All in all, it's very exciting, but you can't taste its age at all and the price-taste ratio doesn't really come across to me here.
Review by Thunderbird
Hmmm... somehow I miss something here or rather... my expectation was much higher... it is too one-dimensional for me... barrel, leather, minimal dried fruits... a little caramelized sweetness is also there and that's it... measured by the price a disappointment for me
Review by Frank
The second old Cuban on this Easter Sunday is even older. It was allowed to age for a whole 41 years. Hammer. Nose: wow, it surprises you with its strong tobacco aromas. Pipe tobacco and old, cold, smoked-out pipe. Smoky and bacony at the same time. Old leather and resinous cedar wood. Dried dates, prunes and raisins can still be found behind the tobacco. Even if the umami tobacco drowns everything out, I don't think it's bad at all. 8.5 Palate: Close to the nose. Lots of old pipe tobacco and cold pipe smoke. Also bacon-roasted and salty-laced with vanilla. Perhaps also a little prune, but definitely doughy like gingerbread. You can't drink much of this, as it's almost too intense, but such an aroma profile is rather rare. Therefore 8.5 for me. Great old rum!
Review by Lukas Jäger
45 years old - if this information is correct, that's quite a statement for this unspecified rum from the Caribbean. In any case, the profile confirms the impression of great age. Dried fruits, berries, but also woody-resinous notes are paired with a forest honey sweetness that creates a rounded overall experience. Wherever this rum comes from, they seem to know how to make rum. I find this concise fruitiness particularly remarkable, which still stands up bravely to the woody aromas even after all these years. The only drawback is the very thin taste. At first I thought it only had 4 percent, because you can't taste this almost full proof. Whether due to storage or excessive dilution (when it went into the barrel?), this actually strong rum lacks power. While the nose can still be captured well in the balloon glass, it becomes very thin on the palate at the latest, and the finish disappears almost immediately, despite many bitter notes. A real shame, otherwise a high score of 8.x would have been possible.
Review by Timo Groeger
Waiting at Düsseldorf airport for the bomber to Istanbul. Yes, I quite like this rum. It's very roasty, you can also detect dark chocolate and vanilla, as well as some wood and cappuccino on the palate.
Review by cigares
A nose with caramel, some fruit and the smell of a damp room with lots of varnished woodwork. The palate is lively for its age, with prunes and dried fruit, old varnished wood. Aromas of bituminous sheets used to waterproof roofs. The finish rapidly thins. All that remains are aromas of prune and varnished wood. But these aromas remain on the palate for a very long time - astonishing! The empty glass is once again reminiscent of an old, damp, woody room, but with fruit lingering on the table. The blend with Chapter 7 (1971) is very successful, and the blend score is far superior (9.2) to the two individual Cubans.
Review by Johannes
Interesting rum but at the same time disappointing because it does not live up to the expectations of such an old rum. Noticeable coffee, cocoa and spices on the nose. Extremely sweetened coffee flavor on the palate. Almost reminds me of the Koloa Coffee Spiced Rum. Also very woody and meaty notes. Somehow I could imagine that it has been sweetened...
Review by Filip Šikula
Lately, it seems to me that when bottlings of really old rums do appear, it's most often cuban rums, and they usually don't taste anything like we expect cuban rums to taste. Not the case here, a nice smoky thing with a very fair price considering the age.
Review by Lennart Hofeditz
Naturally a super interesting experience due to the long maturation. Smells very sweet and caramelly for Cuban rum and with a strong raisin note. Then toasted oak comes through. The alcohol is well integrated. Overall round, but not super complex.
Review by Schnubbii
Nice and delicious, with hints of raisins and vanilla, but rather underwhelming given the age.
Review by Michael Schou
Tasted long time ago - Rate 3.9 21-11-2025 - Rate 6.7 First time tasting this I did not like it at all. Second time is better, but still not one I like. Smell and taste has a lot of wood, oak, dried raisins and dates. But the all dominating taste is old wet wood
Review by Gigi Balestra
Update: revisited today. Remains definitely in the 90+ territory. Not to mention the retail price. I feel sorry that I haven't picked a back up bottle. Polarising rum for sure. Dark and syrupy thick. Leather, salty caramel, oak, espresso, dried fruits, motor oil. Nose is sublime, palate doesn't fall short neither. 44 years. Wow
Review by Stijn Zino
Smoky maar eentonig. Easy sipping. Een beetje te zacht. Uniek en leuk om te proberen.
Review by Mentalo
44 years is quite a number and then from Cuba. It certainly lacks some complexity, but I didn't expect that either. It has a pleasant sweetness, lots of raisins, chocolate and some coffee. The age of the wooden barrel is noticeable in the finish. Unfortunately, musty notes also came through from time to time. Nevertheless, a nice bottling in the Spanish style
Review by thehumblefox
NOSE: Malted milk chocolate, toasted oak, chocolate frosting, wood varnish/lacquer, vanilla caramels, graham cracker, dry forest floor/leaf duff. PALATE: Med+ body, creamy, rich. Medium caramel, vanilla ice cream inside a chocolate shell, nutmeg, vanilla/cherry cola, orange peel. (Originally got some brighter, fruity flavors on the palate- Swedish fish, sour cherry, fruit punch - but those have faded in this sample over time). FINISH: Long finish. Cigar wrapper, dark toasted pastry, hazelnut toffee, chocolate covered raisins, dates, a bit of black pepper, nutmeg for days (!) and some bitter-sweet oak to balance the sweetness. OVERALL: A really fine blend of rich aromatic spices, cocoa and sweet dessert/pastry notes, with enough fruit notes to make this feel lifted. This one strikes a beautiful balance for me with richness & finesse. SCORE: 88/100
Review by Rare Akuma
A straight-forward profile primarily presenting lavish toffee notes and patisserie spices, flanked by musty wood. This aroma continues on the palate, but unfortunately much thinner than expected (I would have guessed 10% under actual ABV). Consequently it lacks the full body it needed to truly shine. It’s an interesting drop, and provokes certain emotion having something ‘this old’ in the glass. But age and heritage alone can’t off-set the lacking complexity of this production style.
Review by Philip M. 🇧🇪
21/06/24: Road Rummers Supertasting @ TasTToe
Review by MJ97
Nose: full-bodied chocolate, caramel vanilla too. Pastry-like. Palate: very similar to the nose. Afterwards, the 56.6° is very nice to make an interesting Cuban, but it's still very unidimenssional. A woody side too, which becomes more pronounced in the finish, taking a predominant place. The finish becomes less and less gourmand and more and more pastry-like.
Review by Barnagricole
Nougatine, caramel, wood and vanilla. With a vegetal entry and orange zest and then cocoa, roasted coffee that takes over and gives its bitterness.
Review by Buddudharma
Nice Cuban. But it also shows impressively that even the best Spanish rum doesn't stand a chance against good British rum.
Review by Olimpia1936
A nice dip into the 70s, great bevuta❤️
Review by JFehr
Too sweet, otherwise quite nice
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
The Whisky Jury The Many Faces of Rum 1978 at live auctions
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All live auctions ›Community shelf
18 bottles logged by 16 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
27% opened, 5 emptied.
What did the community pay for The Whisky Jury The Many Faces of Rum 1978?
Community paid 226–348 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 300 €. Price history with 4 auction results in RX+ ›
18 purchased · 57 tasted · 10 wishlist · as of
Details about The Whisky Jury The Many Faces of Rum 1978
A rum from Cuba, bottled by The Whisky Jury, at 56,6%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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