Berentzen Hansen Präsident

Berentzen Hansen Prasident is a long-running German rum blend, a Rum-Verschnitt in the old domestic tradition where a small amount of genuine rum is extended with neutral spirit. It carries no age statement and is bottled at 42%, a piece of nostalgia more than a modern sipping rum.

The nose promises more than the palate delivers, sweet caramel and orange with a toasted note, but the body turns thin, light and alcoholic, and the finish runs synthetic and sharp. Tasters are candid that it reads flat and rough neat, a throwback to grog and teenage memories rather than a considered dram. In the spirit of honesty, this is a cheap mixing rum with an old-fashioned charm to its label and little depth in the glass. It belongs in a tall glass with cola, where the sweet caramel edge can come forward and the alcoholic bite is tamed.