This pot still rum distilled at Worthy Park in Jamaica and finished in Moscatel casks in Michigan gave us note of overripe banana and pineapple.

Doctor Bird is a rum with an interesting resume: distilled in Jamaica at Worthy Park on pot stills, aged a bit in the tropics, transported to the Two James distillery in Detroit, where its finished in moscatel (moscato) casks before going into a great looking, premium feeling bottle. At 50% ABV and being 100% pot stills, its definitely targeted towards those looking for intense, fruity, funky flavor. For a rum that seems to be doing everything it can to make rum nerds fall in love, its surprising that its missing information like the time spent in primary and finishing casks, or a declaration of no additives. By our count it could certainly make that claim; clocking in at 0.928g/cc, there’s no indication of any dosage.

The nose is quite pungent; overripe banana, but also a host of other fruits: mango, pineapple, green apple. There’s a bit of coconut, and something jammy. The palate is sweet. Banana bread leads into cinnamon, a medley of dried fruity, mango and butter. The finish is strong, with hints of banana, licorice, ginger and a sulfur-adjacent depth that almost reminds me of a Port Mourant.

In our blind taste test Doctor Bird scored well as a neat sipper (7.0/10); a little aggressive on the palate, but interesting and flavorful. It scored even better as a mixer (7.9/10) where it brought a ton of character to a daiquiri while still maintaining balance and drinkability.

While it may be too high-ester to serve as an introduction to Jamaican rum, Doctor Bird has tons of flavor and character for seasoned rum drinkers and mixologists to play with. The moscatel casks finish isn’t totally lost, but it plays a minor supporting role to the pot stills. Overall a great addition to most rum shelves.