Plantation Habana 7 Year Imported Barrel Aged Virgin Island Rum is a near vintage rum from the late 1990s. Delivered in a unique champagne-style bottle, it was marketed as an “ultra-premium rum” and retailed for about $40. For the time period, this was an expensive rum that failed to gain traction and disappeared in the early 2000s.
Note: At the same time this brand was disappearing, a French-based company began selling rum under the same Plantation name in the USA. They were much more successful.
Plantation Habana 7 is a medium-to-heavy bodied rum with aromatic notes of woody oak, dark molasses, buttery toffee and orange peel. When sipping, I was disappointed by its thin, watery entry but its dry floral and citrus notes kept my interest. On second sip, I picked up a balanced flavor of sweet caramel, bitter molasses, black pepper and a slight hint of burnt coffee. Its dry, peppery finish is balanced and quite pleasant.
From it’s hang tag:
“Plantation Habana Style Rum is the culmination of a 230-year tradition of Havana style hand-crafted rums. This all natural Caribbean Rum is carefully distilled under a secret time honored formula. After distillation, this extraordinary rum was stored and aged in a selection of the finest oak-charred barrels for at least seven (7) years…maturation.
This exclusive collector’s edition has been produced for the true connoisseur…one who enjoys the finer side of life…Savor this limited bottling…A truly exceptional, unique experience.
We recommend that you enjoy this unique rum as you would with only the finest aged cognacs, “on the rocks”, neat, or in a snifter…perhaps with your favorite cigar…Salute!
Frank-Lin International Products, Ltd.”