Nose: Rich and spicy with fruit, molasses, honey and golden syrup.
Palate: Sweet, oaky and fruity, lots of vanilla sweetness and faint hints of smoke.
Finish: Good length, rich.
Got a bottle of this for Christmas, what a fantastic present! It's so smooth and deep and has a real rounded quality about it. It's by far the best I've ever tasted and will cry the day it's gone from my drinks cabinet!! I love Mount Gay.
I had the pleasure of trying this at London Hilton Trader Vics bar in a Masterclass with Chesterfield Browne the International Brand Ambassador, the 1703 is so subtle and smooth it is comparable to an OX Cognac, I was in heaven ,
I tried this in Barbados at the end of the Mount gay visitor centre tour. You have to pay B$25.00 for a glass but it is well worth it. Alan the barman knows how to serve this and takes you through the notes. I agree with the other reviewers, this is as easy drinking as rum gets. A full deep flavour with a softness absent in most other rums. Incidentally in the MG shop it was selling for about B$200.00 currently the X rate is 3.1 to 1.
Not much of a rum drinker but a friend bought me back a bottle from the states, I enjoyed it thoroughly and it was not until it was nearly all gone that I realised how expensive it was but believe me, it is worth it and I have since enjoyed 3 more bottles.