First Impressions
Let's be absolutely clear: Sunset Very Strong at 84.5% ABV is not a sipping rum. It is a mixer and a cocktail ingredient of extraordinary potency. Produced on Saint Vincent, it's one of the strongest rums commercially available and demands respect — and heavy dilution.
Tasting Notes
The nose is dominated by ethanol — there's no avoiding the 84.5%. Underneath, there's sweet molasses and tropical fruit esters, but you need to approach the glass carefully to find them. Raw cane sugar adds a base sweetness.
On the palate — and please, dilute this heavily before attempting — there's intensely sweet molasses, burning heat that overwhelms everything else, and tropical fruit fighting valiantly through the alcohol. The character is raw and unfiltered — this is rum at its most primal.
The finish is very long and fiery. Once the heat subsides, molasses sweetness emerges. Your throat will remember this experience.
How to Drink It
Heavily diluted in fruit punch, as a float on cocktails, or as a component in rum punches where you need serious firepower. A small measure goes an extremely long way. This is also used in cooking and flambéing. Never, under any circumstances, drink this neat.
The Bottom Line
Sunset Very Strong earns a 7 — not because it's pleasant to drink neat (it isn't and shouldn't be), but because as a cocktail ingredient it's remarkably useful. At £53 for 84.5% ABV, the value per unit of alcohol is extraordinary. A bottle will last months. Handle with extreme care.
