Malibu Original is the world's best-known coconut rum, made by infusing Caribbean white rum with natural coconut flavouring to produce a soft, sweet, endlessly mixable spirit. Created in 1982 with the beach-holiday cocktail crowd in mind, it's built for ease rather than complexity - a lower-ABV liqueur-style rum designed to be poured straight over ice or shaken into a classic Piña Colada.
The nose is fresh and inviting, all light, creamy coconut layered over a gentle rum backbone and a touch of vanilla. On the palate it's smooth and well balanced, coconut and vanilla custard notes playing off the underlying white rum without ever tipping into cloying territory. The finish is soft and lingering, a sweet, rummy coconut note that stays long after the glass is empty - exactly the tropical, holiday-in-a-bottle character the brand has built its name on.
Malibu takes its name from the sun-soaked Californian coastline, though the rum itself is rooted firmly in the Caribbean. Since its launch it has become a fixture of summer drinking and cocktail menus worldwide, instantly recognisable by its frosted white bottle and sunset palm-tree logo, and remains the reference point against which every other coconut rum is measured.
