J. Wray & Nephew LTD. Appleton Reserve Rare Old Jamaican Rum (Ceramic)
Loved by Joachim Guger, mto75 & 14 moreFor curious explorers, this vintage Appleton 12 in ceramic jug delivers an old‑school Jamaican profile: dried and tropical fruits, polished wood, caramel and chocolate. Community members love it as a relaxed, historic sipping rum.
- Rich fruity nose
- Balanced wood spices
- Great sipping history

Details about J. Wray & Nephew LTD. Appleton Reserve Rare Old Jamaican Rum (Ceramic)
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How does J. Wray & Nephew LTD. Appleton Reserve Rare Old Jamaican Rum (Ceramic) taste?
Aggregated from 22 community reviews.
Old-school Appleton with fruity-woody charm For curious explorers, this vintage Appleton 12 in ceramic jug delivers an old‑school Jamaican profile: dried and tropical fruits, polished wood, caramel and chocolate. Community members love it as a relaxed, historic sipping rum.
Fans of classic Jamaican blends who enjoy fruity-woody sippers and want to experience how Appleton 12 used to taste, without heavy sweetness or high proof.
High-ABV hunters or those expecting big ester funk and extreme complexity; also not ideal for drinkers who prefer very sweet, modern styled rums.
How is J. Wray & Nephew LTD. Appleton Reserve Rare Old Jamaican Rum (Ceramic) rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.3 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Joachim Guger
A wonderfully deep red gold. Hammer nose!!! Polish, dried fruit, tar and beef jerky. Very fine and complex. Reminiscent of a TECA and also has something of a Caroni. In the mouth then tropical fruits and now woody and spicy. Again very complex and fine. The 43% is quite OK, with a few % more it would be one of my absolute favorites. A really great rum and very different from today's Appletons.
Review by mto75
was very excited about the 12-year-old from the ceramic decanter! On the nose, there is a clear difference to the 'current' 12-year-old. The old one is much more intense, with dried fig, polish, old closet, tobacco, Werther's Echte Karamellbonbon and a slight freshness. It is more in the direction of the Hearts series. On the palate, the 'old' has a pleasant interplay of cask, spices and café au lait, and somehow it also has a pleasantly warm cognac note...thank you for the FT to Vienna!
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
10.10.2020 Sample tasting at home. Notes Medium dark to dark in colour. Nose Workshop, wood, fruits, light citrus, faint chocolate, faint floral, raisin. Palate Oily, wood, light smoke, light earthy, citrus, chocolate, light caramel, raisin. Finish Short to medium, wood, raisin, light chocolate, faint caramel, faint smoke.
Review by Hans-Peter Jank
Ich liebe diesen 12 jahrigen Appleton. Wirklich angenehm zu trinken und ganz anders als Rare Blend und Rare Casks. Hier wurde bereits vorweggenommen, was später in der Hearts Serie seine Fortsetzung findet. Interessant wie sich der 12 jährige im Laufe der Zeit verändert hat. Ich werde in nächster Zeit alle verschiedenen 12 jahrigen Appleton Estate Rums verkosten und bewerten.
Review by Sebas143
Tasted at German Rum Festival Fantastic rum. Maybe some changes due to the time in the bottle? According to the information, the bottle is dated from the 1970s
Review by DomM
Nose is very intense given to low ABV. Quite intriguing with lots of fruits some spices and noticeable wood influence. This is much richer than contemporary bottlings. On the palate the dilution is ruining the experience somewhat, unfortunately. Yet, this is still very flavorful with wood and dried fruits and far superior to newer releases in the same weight class. This reminds me of the old El Dorado 25y blends with less sweetness but comparable intensity.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Richtig leckerer süffiger alter Appleton. Riesen Unterschied zu heute! Würde es den noch regulär zu kaufen geben, hätte ich den definitiv im Regal. Wirklich toller every day sipper und eine tolle Viskosität am Gaumen. Gefällt mir fast besser wie der 20er.
Review by Basti
Messebewertung 13. GRF. Kein Vergleich zu den aktuelleren Appleton 12.
Review by Jarek
Tasted at the Village 2024 in Nuremberg. A very tasty, fruity and woody nose. The palate doesn't quite deliver what the nose promises, the 43% is also a little too low. If you ignore the fact that you have a piece of rum history in your glass, then it is only a good rum and not an outstanding one.
Review by F.L.O.
Tolle Fruchtbombe von Appleton bzw. Wray & Nephew. Zwar nur 43%, aber unglaublich geile Nase und leckerer Geschmack. Kein komplexer Nerd-Scheiss, aber trotzdem eine nette Erfahrung. Trotz niedrigem ABV zu empfehlen.
Review by Leo Krüper
Toller Sipper. Richtiger Appleton wie man ihn sich wünscht.
Review by Serge
Verkostet am Catawiki Stand auf der Village in Nürnberg. Super Nase, etwas dünn, aber lecker. Dennoch glaube ich dass er (auch auf Grund der Flasche) etwas überbewertet ist. Kann man aber wirklich ohne Vorbehalte trinken.
Review by Pavel Spacek
Nice profile, but too watery
Community purchases
24 bottles logged by 52,000+ RumX members. The ratio of closed / opened / emptied, indicates whether this rum is meant to be drunk or is a collector's item.
Also on the wishlist of 10 members.
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