What ever possessed me to purchase a bottle of Malibu Coconut Rum is beyond me. Nowhere in the pantheon of prohibition or modern drinks is a sweet, coconut flavored liqueur mentioned as a key ingredient to, well, anything. Yet, somehow, it found it’s way into my home, and ultimately into some of the first cocktails we ever made.
Malibu Coconut Rum is a product of Canada. You know, the warm, tropical, rum producing islands of Canada. Pernod Ricard then imports it into the U.S, where it conjures sunny images of warm palm tree lined Canadian beaches. It should be noted that despite all my snark, it does contain natural coconut flavor as evidenced in their nutrition where coconut is called out as an allergen.
Malibu Coconut Rum
For the purposes of evaluating Malibu Coconut Rum fairly, I’ll evaluate it as a liqueur. To evaluate it as a rum would lead to me treating it like an unholy abomination. This would be unfair to it, and I recommend you think about Malibu accordingly if looking for a rum.
Sight: It’s clear, but definitely somewhat more viscous
Smell: It smells like creamy coconut. Like you might expect from sun tan lotion. There’s a small amount of ether and vanilla notes as well.
Sip: The start is sweet and thick, almost syrup like. The flavors of coconut and light touches of sugary rum ether come through. There’s a creaminess here as well, and a little bit of bite that builds. The sugar is boarding into cloying.
Savor: On the finish it’s smooth, sugary, and more coconut. It has a bit of split between raw shaved coconut, coconut candy flavor, and toasted coconut.
Malibu Coconut Rum accomplishes coconut in spades. It’s basically what I’d imagine coconut flavoring to taste like if lightened with sugar and a relatively neutral cane spirit. Bear in mind, this is labeled as a liqueur, and you should consider it as such. As liqueur, it’s strong in coconut flavoring, if a little seemingly candy like.
In Cocktails
Malibu Coconut Rum is mild enough to be treated as a base if you are so inclined, and want a strong coconut forward element. Due to the strong nature, it can also be successfully used as a modifier, replacing other fruit liqueurs. The versatility is quite good, but mind the sugar when using it as a base. Finally, if you only have a limited amount of space – Malibu is a poor choice due to the few tiki and classic cocktails where it could be effectively used.
Malibu Coconut Rum Overall
Malibu holds a place on our shelf primarily as modifier and for some rare instances where we have existing drink recipes that call for it. It is pretty ubiquitous, being available almost everywhere as a low price. That said, unless you have a use or enjoy super sweet liqueurs with strong, simple coconut flavoring, then Malibu isn’t one of our recommend bottles for your crafting shelf.
If you’re looking for one of our favorite drinks to make with Malibu Coconut Rum check out our original Peach’s Parasol.
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