A.H. Riise Royal Danish Navy Bitter

The Royal Danish Navy Bitter is a spiced, bittered rum from A.H. Riise, the Danish brand drawing on Virgin Islands molasses spirit and leaning on its naval and historical styling. At just 32% it sits well below standard rum strength, which already signals a soft, liqueur adjacent product rather than a serious aged sipper.

The nose is sweet and aromatic, licorice, cinnamon and marzipan, while the palate stays sweet and mild with honey and caramel and the finish turns woody and licorice tinged. The trouble is balance, the sweetness sits heavily across every part of the experience and the bitter element struggles to assert itself, so what should read as a bittered rum comes across as simply sweet. This is plainly a sweetened product, and honesty demands placing it as a soft, dessert style or mixing rum rather than a dry spirit. Drinkers expecting a true rum bitter are likely to find it out of kilter.