Aroma visualization from community tastings
Spirit Gallery Secret Heavy 2013
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Opinions swing hard on this one. Plenty of tasters call it a fascinating oddball — salty chocolate, tropical fruit, smoke, roasted hazelnut and a peppery streak nobody can quite place. Others just find raw solvent and off-notes. At 65% the alcohol is right up front, so it needs air. A polarizing single-cask experiment more than an easy pour.
The community says- Salty chocolate note
- Unusual peppery character
- But: Hot, sprity alcohol
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The look inside the bottle
How does Spirit Gallery Secret Heavy 2013 taste?
Summarized by AI from 34 community reviews.
Hot, salty, smoky oddball for the curious Genuinely divisive. Fans love the salty-chocolate, smoky, nutty weirdness; detractors find it hot, metallic and undefinable. Several agree it needs air, and one suggests blending it with its "Regular" sibling.
Experienced drinkers who chase strange, cask-strength experiments
Anyone wanting a smooth, balanced sipper
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
16 of 34 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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Community voices
What does the community say?
34 community reviews
21 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Top 19% of Unknown rums
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Ranges include their upper bound: “7–8” means above 7 up to and including 8. See the full rating guide
Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by TheJackDrop
Most helpful positive review
EDIT: a real whisky side, hazelnut, cereals, almost peaty! Wow. Really a UFO. There's a lot of salt, caramel, chocolate, But there are also fruits that add pep. It's heavy, thick, complex and confusing! Superb discovery that makes you want to discover more rums.
Review by Thunderbird
Most helpful critical review
Whoever created this or chose the barrel... this is nothing... On the nose I have such a strange fruit and plant aroma à la papaya/agave juice... on the palate initially burnt caramel... then very quickly alcoholically sharp before some artificial note appears that I can't really assign. The finish is medium-long bitter roasted like the whole rum 😖
Review by Dr.Django
A very interesting rum and not at all comparable to its brother rx20557. on the palate with a very creamy attack, which spreads pleasantly warming in the mouth. very flattering. not complex at all. i have a whimsical aroma of candied peach fruits in a wooden cup, garnished with some speculoos and something else. interestingly drinkable, although the alcohol does come through strongly.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Yes, the rum is kind of strange. Neither fish nor meat. I could never identify it blindly. But strangely enough, it tastes good to me. And slightly better than the parallel bottling "Secret Regular" (RX20557). This is mainly due to the unique trace of pepper that runs through the rum. On the nose as well as on the palate. I also notice burnt vanilla and coffee dust. So, I say THANK YOU to FischeJ for this cryptic sample.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Here, too, I would most likely guess Belize, at most Venezuela or Antigua, possibly also El Salvador, they also have these blatant hazelnut notes... Very cool experiment. As expected, the heavy style comes around the corner with much more beastly and with more power and congeners, but is still quite balanced overall. In direct comparison, I like the "regular" better, as it is simply much more balanced. A blend of the two would certainly also be delicious. For me, this is a surprisingly exciting experiment and at €110 per liter for 2 single casks, it's very fairly priced! But my guess remains with Belize after comparing the two again!🇧🇿😀
Review by Johannes
Somewhat strange, indefinable rum. Not particularly complex, some molasses, chocolate, wood.
Review by Master P
Mhhh, smells somehow like salty chocolate peanuts and a little caramel. Taste dark cocoa with some honey. Quite alcoholic and bitter on the finish. The finish is unspectacular, slightly horsey on the tongue, after 2 minutes you feel like your mouth is numb after the dentist. I.O. But sample is enough
Review by Eric Frechin
In the duo, this is the one I tasted second. I liked it a bit more than the regular. Blind, I could have thought Nicaragua. What I liked: nose of soft fruits, brown sugar. The entry on the palate. The persistent finish on a beautiful raisin. The downside: alcohol too present. The astringency in the mouth a bit rooty. Interesting nonetheless.
Review by Mentalo
I was at least surprised by the bottling. Unfortunately, very tangy notes at the beginning. This gets better with a little time, but the notes are present throughout. There's also quite a lot of acidity, a little caramel and an artificial fruity note. Some chocolate in the finish.
Review by Maxime Clr 🇫🇷
A nose more astringent than its sister "Regular". Tropical fruits and dried fruits blend with spices. A much less vegetal but more metallic side. A palate that follows the nose on tropical fruits, butter caramel, and a smoky side that I get. It's good.
Review by Air-one
The "secret heavy" spirit gallery rum is 65% proof. From the outset, the alcohol is present. A slight rest in the glass is welcome. The nose, alcoholic and sulfurous, is rather thin. On the palate, the alcohol makes itself felt, followed by fruity notes. The long finish is clearly dominated by its fruitiness.
Review by Gregor
Cool nose: banana, cashew nuts, hazelnut, whole tropical fruit basket, but also strawberry and some ash - smoke Palate: Fruity and smoky, pineapple, coconut, banana, berry mix and even some smoke and ham. Alcohol well integrated but also somewhat metallic. Medium-long finish. Exciting and fine.
Review by zabo
Unfortunately just as good/bad as the other one from Spirit Gallery that I had in my glass before. You should never have asked for more than the advertised price. Doesn't work for me either neat or as a mixer.
Review by alex
Meh, it's drinkable but not very convincing. I do like this heavy, woody side with a bit of wax and peanuts, but something is missing for it to be really enjoyable.
Review by Starky
Journey to the tropics
Review by Jacques etdom
A strange rum, I've never tasted anything like it. Salty, smoked meat and chocolate. A finish that reminds me of certain rice spirits. Not my thing, but nice for the experience. In my opinion, it needs to be blended to regularize it.
Review by Rhum Mirror 🇧🇪
🥃 The Duo Ron El Salvador 2013 – 11 years – 65% Two bottlings. One same distillery. One same aging: 11 years 100% tropical in ex-Jack Daniel’s casks. One same cask strength bottling at 65%. 👉 The only difference? The distillation strength. Ron Regular (distilled at 94%): more marked by the cask, notes of vanilla, coffee, brown sugar… an accessible profile but a bit short in length. Heavy Ron (distilled at 74%): richer in aromatic compounds from fermentation. More animal, more atypical profile… clearly divisive. A fascinating doublet from an educational point of view — perfect to understand the impact of distillation parameters — but it didn’t fully convince on pure pleasure. 💡 Highlight of the evening: blending the two batches, as Benjamin suggested. A playful, participative exercise… and an unequivocal verdict: the blend surpasses each version tasted separately. More balance, more complexity. A real revelation!
Review by Jus Liens
Nose: quite sweet but also very dry, relatively complex. Hazelnut. Mouth: dry, astringent, complex. Almost gas/truffle. Finish: shorter than expected, reminds me of whisky after all, peat, cereal.
Review by Pavel Ungr, RumRock
Vintage 2013. With 7.9 out of 10, it's a good, though not exceptional rum.
Review by Schnubbii
A pretty dirty nose, but not in a pleasant way. Rancid engine oil and sweetness on the palate, hardly anything else. I'm revising the rating downwards as I write. Sorry, it's really nothing in my opinion. The rest of the sample will be disposed of in cola.
Review by Jonas
Are you serious?! Here again the question: why do you bottle something like this? Off notes and alcohol. Undefinable. Terrible nose. Unbelievable.
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Community shelf
21 bottles logged by 17 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
42% opened, 5 emptied.
What did the community pay for Spirit Gallery Secret Heavy 2013?
Community paid 24–55 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 42 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
21 purchased · 37 tasted · 7 wishlist · as of
Details about Spirit Gallery Secret Heavy 2013
A Column Still Rum from Unknown, bottled by Spirit Gallery, at 65%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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