geologyjane
Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum
Aged Rum — Venezuela
Reviewed
February 19, 2020 (edited July 1, 2020)
When is the best time to try rum? Apparently after warming up with some cask strength Glen Moray - this Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum doesn’t seem overly sweet at all now.
I’m only a dabbler in rum - rum probably takes fourth or fifth billing to whisk(e)y depending on my mood and which rum is at hand. But considering this bottle has been languishing a bit, it seemed like good time to revisit it.
Nose: Dark, syrupy molasses, butterscotch, sage, and bitter orange peels. Funky fruit like baked bananas and roasted nuts. Little bit of clove and gingerbread.
Palate: Rich and bold, but very sweet. Lots of nice qualities from the nose transferring over. Dark toffee and butterscotch, roasted sage and herbs, funky banana bread, oily vanilla, and a nice kick of ginger and spice. Hints of licorice, orange zest, and wood. Great mouthfeel, texture, and delivery.
Finish: The only let down of an otherwise fairly impressive dram. It’s just a bit too short. Dominated by a funky sweetness trailing off into zesty fruit and baking spice.
Verdict: Yeah it’s sweet and I’d love to see it with less added sugar. But everything else is excellent and it’s dangerously easy to drink. Best to serve this as an after dinner dram. Coming from someone who is used to shelling out for single malts, an easily obtainable 12 year rum for under $40 and at this level of quality and complexity is unbeatable. Recommended in the place of a dessert or digestif.
4.25 ~ Excellent
38.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@geologyjane sounds good—-I’ll dig it up this weekend.
Thanks @jonwilkinson7309! And that’s awesome, I’m glad your wife found something to light her “spirit journey”. 😊 I know this rum is sweet and not for everyone but it’s a fairly safe bet if you’re going to keep one on the shelf.
Great review! I like this rum and we always keep it on hand - it was the first straight spirit my wife really liked, and it started her on the path of being a rum enthusiast.
@cascode Had enough of the distiller app or all us lot? :-)
@cascode - you know you are never allowed to retire from Distiller, right? 😅 @PBMichiganWolverine - that is incredibly generous of you (not for free of course) but I’d feel terrible to suggest you part with something so rare and treasured even if you did still have one. I know I missed the curve a few years ago on some of these rare and bucket list spirits. It feels like I’m playing catch up now that I have a little more ability to do so. I know it’s slim pickings (and pretty pricey) so I’d want to be thoughtful if I did come across a bottle someday and decided to splurge.
@geologyjane Caroni is more like whiskey than rum. It’s got much more complex than a regular rum. But pricey. Two of mine were before the prices went up (from 2 years ago). But I splurged in the “ the Last Caroni” from Velier’s last remaining bottles. I might have an unopened sample still—I can send one over if you like—-and if I can find it.
@geologyjane Don't wait - the well is drying up fast. Grab any Velier expression you can find.
@PBMichiganWolverine Actually all the high-end rum I can think of is accurately described. Anything from Foursquare or Plantation will be transparent, and both Richard Seale and Alexandre Gabriel have been making efforts to set up some sort of standards and proper classification for rum. Any rhum agricole will also be accurately described. The futzing about with age statements, using misleading dates in brand names and so forth is mostly see in mass-market rum.
@PBMichiganWolverine @cascode - ah, Caroni! Now that would be a bucket list dram. I need to pick up some samples soon if there any left to be found.
@PBMichiganWolverine Caroni is in a different league. The age statements are accurate minimum age content. No-one who is bottling this rare stuff is going to try and fool the aficionados who buy it.
@cascode hopefully the Caroni rum I have are the exception—-I have i think 4, anywhere from 10 to 26 yr
@PBMichiganWolverine Yeah, the state of rum classification and standards is a mess - ages often state the oldest spirit or an average, or a number someone thought up in the shower that morning. I guess that's fair enough for something so closely associated with piracy.
@PBMichiganWolverine - that may be, and the bottle doesn’t actually state 12 years, it’s all other sources that state it’s a 12 year blend (Distiller included). At any rate, even if you told me it was a 5 year old rum, I think that might only make me hold it in higher regard (but I might want a little price break 😜).
I always thought the age statements on rum were questionable, for some reason. Not sure who “they” would be, but I was under the impression they’re pretty loose in how age is defined.