Bacardí Gran Reserva Diez 10 Year

Floral, oak - a considerable step from the 8. Eucalyptus, pineapple, tropical fruits. It really doesn't change a lot upon breathing (I think the older rums do). This is about the highest quality I would use for mixing and not with citrus, more rum Manhattan or something.

Interesting taste. Slightly on the sweeter side but not overly so. Nice flavor, but not as smooth of an aftertaste as I’d expect.

Rating: 16/23 I was surprised by how good the Bacardi 8 was, so having a chance to sample this, I leapt at it. N: Vanilla, caramel, fireworks. A bit of tangerine and some mild sweet spices. Not the most complex nose, but a good one. P: Sweet, smooth, mellow. There's some nice musty flavor that gives this a sense of age and I get a little funk that reminds me of Plantation Trinidad a bit. Vanilla, some slightly woody cinnamon, something a bit prickly, and a nice dose of tropical fruit (melon, banana, light pineapple, and just a brushing of orange). Not really any of that firework flavor I expected. Maybe just a tad. It's a bit sweeter than I'd like but not overwhelming and I suspect that's the reason for a lot of the fullness here considering the low proof. Which bring some to the proof. This tastes a bit weak, unfortunately. F: Really nice. Tropical fruits dance with vanilla and light caramel. - Conclusion - Super easy drinking. Great as an intro or just an easy evening. This would be awesome bottled at 46-50%. Still, I like it a lot as it is. It's just I want to rate it higher but it's lacking that fullness of flavor. It has solid complexity and very nice balance. I'm vaguely considering a 17, but I think that this is more in the 15 to 16 range. There's a great - maybe fantastic - rum at the core of this, but it's been watered down way too much. I do taste that complexity and depth though. I'll give it a 16.