Review: Khukri XXX   (78.5/100)
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
February, 2021

Khukri XXX Rum is produced by Nepal Distilleries Private Limited who began to produce spirit in Kathmandu Nepal in 1959. In the beginning, Khuri began distilling alcohol using traditional pot stills from the late 1800s (Those initial pot stills are now on display in the distillery). However the company has modernized production and now uses a 3 column distillation and they have replaced they use of oak barrel aging with the use of special wooden oak vats for maturation of their molasses based distillate.

Reading through the website I came to the conclusion that the rums produced are of no single age. The maturation vats appear to be emptied only partially each time. This leaves a percentage of rum behind to age further until the next time the vat is emptied partially again. Apparently the youngest rum in any particular batch may be as young as 8 months old, while the oldest rum in the blend might have been in the vat when the process was started many years ago.

Khukri XXX Rum is bottled at 42.8 % alcohol by volume.

In the Bottle 4/5

Khukri XXX is sold in the bottle shown to the left. It is a medium tall long necked bottle with a plastic screw cap closure. The bottle and the label look a little dated perhaps; but with very little competition within the Country of Nepal, I suspect the bottle presentation is just fine for the local market.

In The Glass 8/10

Colour:  Bronze

Legs: Mid size droplets fall as mid-sized legs at a moderate pace

Nose:  The breezes bring a touch of treacle combined with caramel, oak spice and baking spices ( vanilla, cinnamon and clove). If we give the glass time to evolve aromas of dark brown sugar, cinnamon toast emerge with molasses, hints of dark licorice, menthol, and almond. I would like this more except for a niggling feeling that something artificial has crept in.

In the Mouth 47/60

The entry brings wood and baking spices forward and unfortunately a mild but noticeable bite of alcohol astringency. I can taste vanilla, cinnamon and dark brown sugar, oak spice and molasses which is followed by treacle, oak spice, orange peel, cola, cocoa and walnut. The rum tastes like a traditional ‘Dark Rum’ in that it seems as though molasses and hint of spice have been added to augment the flavour. I suspect this is part of the tradition of rum making in Nepal, and indeed this is part of the tradition of rum making throughout most of the world.

With ice I taste more of the bitter treacle and some cocoa and coffee-like flavours.  I would prefer not to sip and suggest that this is more of a rum and cola mixer.

In The Throat: 11.5/15

The rum is light to medium bodied and has a  shortened semi sweet finish. I taste the bitterness of Treacle as I swallow with cola and baking spice. Orange and oak spice linger afterwards as does a hint of alcohol burn.

The Afterburn  8/10

Final Thoughts: The Khukri rum is a typical dark rum witha profile that favours rum and cola cocktails or perhaps a Brooklynite. A touch of burn in the exit kept the score down, but I was happy to be able to sample the product nonetheless.

If you are interested in comparing more scores, here is a link to my other published Rum Reviews.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

You may (loosely) interpret the scores as follows.

0-25     A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49   Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59  You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69   Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74    Now we have a fair mixing rum or whisky.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84    We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89    Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94    Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+       I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 79.5    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5     Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95         Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping