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Malibu Coconut Rum
About Malibu Coconut Rum
Malibu Coconut Rum is produced by Pernod Ricard, a France-based company that owns a wide variety of different liquor brands worldwide. Despite the name it’s most commonly known by, Malibu Coconut Rum is not technically rum – which one can tell from taking a closer look at the bottle. The label actually reads “Caribbean Rum With Coconut Liqueur” – as in many places it can’t be legally considered rum, and is actually closer to a rum-based liqueur.
According to most sources, the base rum is produced at the West Indies Rum Distillery in Bridgetown, Barbados. However, the final product is produced in Canada at Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery. This particular bottle is made with the Caribbean base rum and coconut extract to create a fresh coconut flavor.
Bottle Specs
❖ ABV: 21%
❖ Distillery: West Indies Rum Distillery, Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery
❖ Aging: 2 years (rum base)
❖ Price Point: Low-priced
Tasting Notes
Palate:
❖ Coconut
My Tasting notes
As I took my first whiff of this liqueur, the coconut aroma was immediately strong, with a hint of additional sweetness that could have been vanilla. The vanilla note was very subtle, but complemented the coconut nicely. I found that the more sniffs I took, the stronger the alcohol scent became. This was a bit unusual. When I do tastings, the aroma of a spirit usually mellows out over time, rather than doing the opposite.
I took my first sip, and found it to be very sweet with a burst of alcohol in the finish. The coconut notes were most prominent, as I expected. After several sips, I began to taste subtle notes of vanilla and peppery spice. Overall, the rum flavor took a backseat, and was only noticeable for a couple seconds here and there. It was a bit smoother than I expected, which is partly because it has a lower proof than a typical rum.
Cocktail
For my cocktail, I wanted to try out one of the many recipes from Malibu Rum’s official website. The recipe that really caught my eye is actually one of the simplest recipes on there: the Malibu Cola.
It’s basically just a rum and coke made with Malibu Coconut Rum. I’m a huge rum and coke fan, so I thought it would be really interesting to try this variation with a coconut flavor. As you can see, their recipe only lists the ratios of the ingredients in parts. Personally, I went for 2 oz of Malibu, and 4 oz of coke.
MALIBU COLA
❖ 1 part Malibu Original (Coconut Rum)
❖ 2 parts Cola
- Pour the ingredients into a glass with ice.
Inside of a cocktail, I found the flavor notes of Malibu difficult to pick out. In fact, I actually had to remove the lime wheel garnish from my glass, because the aroma of the lime was overpowering the flavor notes on my tongue. After I removed my garnish, I could pick out the coconut notes a bit better – though they were still surprisingly subtle. Overall, the cocktail was very refreshing. However, I felt that the coca cola was doing most of the leg work here.
Bottom Line
RATING: 2/5
Overall, I was unimpressed with Malibu Coconut Rum. Now that I’ve tasted it myself, I can understand why the Malibu brand’s marketing is so fuzzy about how this spirit is classified. It doesn’t shine as a rum or as a liqueur. It’s in between, but doesn’t stand out as anything unique either. At the end of the day, it is drinkable – but not anything to get excited about!
As I mentioned above, the coconut flavor did not go a long way. If I was judging a true liqueur, I would expect it to be more flavorful with less volume. It really falls short.
In addition, I had a strange reaction to the alcohol in this spirit in that it actually seemed to sober me up! On this particular day, I did two separate tastings of different spirits – and when I began my tasting of Malibu, I was still a bit tipsy. After finishing my Malibu Cola, I felt completely sober and energetic. I probably could have done my entire exercise routine right then if I had wanted to. Though this is probably not the norm, I thought it was odd enough that I wanted to mention it here.
Malibu has a low proof, which is actually normal in relation to comparable products. However, I also think that the average consumer may not realize that this product is not technically rum, and expect it to feel stronger. All in all, Malibu Coconut Rum is ok, but I would not recommend it to a friend.
As always, drink responsibly.
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