4.El Dorado 21 Year Old Special Reserve
When considering the nearly 350 years of experience that go into each set of El Dorado 21 Year Old Special Reserve, the two decades and alter required to create this premium spirit seem like a relatively little stretch of time. Exhibiting a rich red mahogany color due to extensive aging in oak barrels, the rum is the El Dorado Master Blender’s own special recipe, blending spirits from several distinct stills for a unique, full-bodied flavor.
On the nose, there’s sweetness and light, but with an aroma of alcohol and a sense of import. The oak from the barrels is evident on the taste where this honeyed and sticky liquid makes its presence felt. The earthy aftertaste differentiates well with its sweet beginnings. Adding ice lightens the result, but can’t mask this rum’s gravity.
Origin: Guyana; $92
5.Gosling’s Family Reserve Old Rum
Just as its name affirms, this relatively new rum from Gosling’s has been about a while. As the recipe is more than a century-and-a-half old, the rum has only been commercially accessible since 2005. Each bottle is hand-filled, hand-labeled, individually numbered and conserved with a cork and wax, but it’s the elixir that’s within that counts.
Reportedly based on a clandestine family recipe passed down for seven generations, Gosling’s Family Reserve Old Rum is distilled from fermented molasses and aged in used whiskey barrels for a smoky, oaky, masculine taste. It plays on the tongue like a wave across the ocean, leaving buried treasure in its wake.
Origin: Bermuda; $56
6.Mount Gay 1703 Old Cask Selection
Named for the year in which the Mount Gay distillery was originated, this best product of Barbados shows the type of craftsmanship and refinement of flavors that one would guess from the oldest incessantly energetic rum brand in the world. Made from Barbadian sugarcane and coral-filtered water, Mount Gay 1703 goes through both single and continuous distillation actions for increased complexity previous to being aged for up to 30 years in lightly charred oak Bourbon barrels from Kentucky.
The finished product is fruity, but not in a paper-umbrella-adornment way. Rather, the amber-hued rum features banana and candied fruits on the palate that lingered long after the 86-proof nectar warmed our innards.
Origin: Barbados; $102
7.Ron Abuelo Centuria
Crafted by Varela Hermanos in festivity of the Panama distillery’s centennial, Ron Abuelo Centuria is a especially chosen blend of the Varela family’s own personal reserves. Using merely estate-grown sugarcane and adhering to the labor-intensive Sistema Solera, the making of this limited-edition rum is cautiously overseen from field to bottle, resulting in an exclusive, artisanal spirit. A combination of dark rums matured for up to three decades in American whiskey barrels, Ron Abuelo Centuria stand out due to the spicy pursue it blazes crosswise one’s palate.
Origin: Panama; $130
8.Reserva Familiar Ron Brugal 1888 Gran
Taking its moniker from the distillery’s birth date, Ron Brugal 1888 is an agreeable product of five generations of experience. Double-distilled and double-aged, first in American white oak barrels and next Spanish sherry casks, the dark tawny spirit offers a smooth, light sweetness with raisins and molasses on the nose and a refreshing mix of caramel, spices and a hint of orange peel that coats one’s mouth. Released yearly in a limited-edition small group, the final product is a master blend of rums aged five to fourteen years.
Origin: Dominican Republic; $45
9.Ron Zacapa XO
First initiated in 1976 to celebrate the centennial of Zacapa, Guatemala, Ron Zacapa XO is a distinctive product of its hometown, using just the first pressing of sugarcane definitely flavored by the local volcanic soil. Crafted according to the complex Sistema Solera procedure, Ron Zacapa XO is a blend of rums aged in many different types of casks ? including Bourbon, wine and charred oak barrels ? at a height of 2,300 meters above sea level, where the cool air slows the aging process and allows the spirit to extend its profound character and multilayered profile.
Finished in French oak barrels from Cognac, Zacapa XO features mature toasted oak on the nose, along through burnt caramel and orange peel with a floral note of honeysuckle.
Origin: Guatemala; $99
10.Vizcaya VXOP Cask 21
Created by New Yorker Riccardo Giuliano with the assist of the Oliver family, a tribe with deep roots in the Caribbean rum industry, this transnational collaboration may be a modern product, but its complex, refined flavors are the result of time-honored custom.
Distilled in small batches in the “m?thode agricole,” Vizcaya VXOP Cask 21 is then aged in oak barrels previously used to hold Bourbon until it achieves a rich mahogany hue. The finished product is awfully smooth, with brown sugar and maple on the nose, and butterscotch on the palate.
Origin: Dominican Republic; $39.
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