Ron Zacapa XO Solera Gran Reserva Especial is an elegant, Aged Rum by Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala in Retalhuleu, Guatemala. It is only made with the concentrated first press of sugar cane, known as virgin sugar cane honey. A strain of yeast extracted from pineapples is used for fermentation, then distilled at sea level in continuous column stills. It is then taken to the 'The House Above the Clouds' to be aged for 6 to 25 years. Rums are then blended as they age in a sequence of barrels from American Whiskey cask to a Sherry cask, Pedro Ximénez cask & finished in a French oak Cognac cask. It has an aromatic birth with notes of mature toasted oak, burnt caramel, Bourbon, cedar, pipe tobacco, dark chocolate, hints of tropical flowers & vanilla; while a rich & spicy life adds notes of dark cherry, sultana, date, prune, brown sugar & toffee; that led to a long, burnt & smoky death adds notes of raw honey, more sweet chocolate & root beer. December 2019 / April 2020