S.B.S Panama - Madeira Finish 2010

Review by paulgi86

paulgi86

Jul 202576 reviewsUnited Kingdom

7.0/10

Another lovely if somewhat uninspiring sipper - I do like the Madeira wine cask finish however that finish seems to have totally dominated whatever distillate character might have been there I’ve never had Panamanian rum before so this has been my first exposure to it - again nice Madeira cask influence but the distillate character is totally lost or missing, no discernible signature notes that tells me this would be a characteristic Panama rum. At best case scenario there is a whisper of Panama rum in the background but it’s so far away I can’t pick out any usual notes of oak, vanilla, caramel or maybe even coffee like notes. It is a pleasant rum however I think I’d need to try either a lower ABV version or possibly one matured in an ex-Bourbon barrel to help bring out that Panama signature style UPDATE 16/07/2025 Finished the rest of the sample - seems to be hitting slightly different tonight. The Madeira cask seems to be quite fresh and rather forward with the ever revealing fruit - it gets a little better when adding water, which in turn helps to reveal some vanilla notes and some plum. Mouthfeel isn’t overly compromised to detract from the experience Score adjusted by 0.5 upwards