Old Pascas Dark Rum

Old Pascas Dark is a long-standing supermarket-tier dark rum drawn from Barbados-style distillate, made and priced as a mixer rather than a sipper. It sits firmly at the workhorse end of the category, and the copy is straight about what it is, a cheap pour for rum and cola, not a glass to nose and contemplate.

Distilled from molasses and bottled unsweetened at a low strength, it shows little of the depth that ageing brings. The aroma runs to tropical fruit, coconut and a glue-like edge with an alcoholic lift, the palate is diluted and woody with the same solvent note, and the finish turns chemical and treacly. Neat it reads sharp and simple, but in a long drink with cola it does the job well enough, especially given the price. Treated as an everyday mixer at 37.5% it is honest value, asked to do nothing more.