Review: Sammy’s Beach Bar Red Head Macadamia Nut Flavored Rum

Review: Sammy’s Beach Bar Red Head Macadamia Nut Flavored Rum

sammys beach bar redhead

You gotta love a first. For his first line extension from Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, the “Red Rocker” Sammy Hagar has added a Macadamia Nut-flavored expression to this Hawaii-born product.

What the heck is this stuff?

Distilled from Maui sugar cane, it is steeped with Macadamia nuts and colored blood red (fruit and vegetable juice color is added). Right off the bat, it’s an assault to the senses — the color of wine, but with the nose of crushed nuts. At first the aroma is hard to place — closer to hazelnut than macadamia — with light sweetness underneath.

The body reveals more nuance. Again, the nut notes are the most prominent component here, far overpowering any of the sweet rum elements present. The overall effect is uncannily like a gentler, slightly sweeter version of Frangelico, with a slightly winey, strawberry finish (likely driven by the intense coloring  involved). Rum? It’s difficult to get even a hint of it, particularly the heavy funkiness of Sammy’s, but I trust him that it really is there as a base spirit. I can’t specifically peg macadamia nut here, either, for that matter.

Nonetheless, it’s a well-crafted and quite unique spirit. My recommendation: Use it in lieu of nut liqueurs, not necessarily rum.

70 proof.

A- / $20 / sammysbeachbarrum.com 

Sammy's Beach Bar Red Head Macadamia Nut Flavored Rum

$20
9

Rating

9.0/10

Christopher Null is the founder and editor in chief of Drinkhacker. A veteran writer and journalist, he also operates Null Media, a bespoke content creation company.

7 Comments

  1. jeff ashley on April 6, 2014 at 12:04 am

    were can I order some of this rum not having any luck, live in Tennessee help me out

  2. Kitty on July 10, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Where can you buy this rum?

  3. Muchekke on August 15, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    We got ours at Bevmo

  4. Jason on September 11, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    Any help in ordering this rum? Pennsylvanian here that has been looking everywhere to order a case! Please help!

  5. Nick Shades on April 15, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    I picked this up at my local division of Kroger in Southern California (Albertson’s).

    It was on CLEARANCE for 3 dollars and some change. As soon as I had a sip of it (diluted, with club soda to give it some effervescence), I immediately felt the macadamia nut. It is that oily skin part that reaches the powder when they are shelled, and it comes right through.
    Mix it with Dr. Pepper!

  6. pedantic drinker on April 26, 2020 at 12:38 pm

    not to be confrontational- i agree with your comment. but krogers and albertsons are competitors. just had to say that- sorry.

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