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Given the price tag, this is a more luxurious every-day sip, but the versatility gives you plenty of options to serve and enjoy this rum. Closing Thoughts
Crafted in Guatemala, Ron Zacapa distills its rum at 2,300 meters above sea level in the highlands of Quetzaltenango to ensure a unique-tasting spirit. It’s a well-known brand that combines richness, quality, and mastery to create a range of delicious bottles. Havana Club uses Cuban culture to influence its rum and it’s a firm favorite for Americans and Europeans alike. It’s a staple brand that’s found in many bars across the world. Privateer keeps things simple in the best way possible. The brand disregards many practices favored by larger companies, like sweetening, flavoring, filtering, and spicing its rum, for favor of keeping honesty and purity at the forefront of its offerings.
Finish
A great example would be a Don Carlos from the Fuente family, using that distinct wrapper from Meerapfel in Cameroon. There you can also find an intriguing combination of sweetness, with just a hint of spice, further elevated by the characterful blend of the filler and binder tobaccos. Unlike many other spirits that are limited to one geographic location, rum can be produced in many places across the world. It’s a spirit made from sugarcane and has been made and sold in countries ranging from Nicaragua to The Philippines, Barbados, and India. Sugarcane comes in plenty of different varieties and each type and the region it’s grown in plays a big role in the overall taste and aroma of the rum. I am even beginning to think that my favorite El Dorado rums are sweetened, though it is less dominant and actually compliments the robust flavors of the Demeraran rum. The same could be said for Zaya and this one, though IMO the sweetness is considerably more forward. The Zaya and zacapa are robust enough to still be interesting, while Diplomatico Reserva and Ron Fortuna 8 yr both taste flat and boring to me. Ron Fortuna 8 yr is the worst offender yet, nauseatingly sweet and bland. Both probably were decent subtle rums before being sweetened within an inch of their lives.
To produce rum, sugarcane is burnt, harvested, and milled for around 24 hours to keep it fresh and prevent deterioration. After either of these methods have taken place, the rum is blended and bottled or left to age. Rums that are aged in the Caribbean require less time to reach their peak due to the tropical heat and accelerated evaporation. Some brands finish their aging process in Cognac or wine casks for a unique flavor profile. Terminology: The terms to know when talking about rum For some people, a powerhouse brand like Zacapa means reliability and a trustworthy, loyal choice for their home bar. Others might shy away from these large-scale manufacturers and global brands that appeal to a large range of consumers.
Consider this similar product...
A sip of Appleton Estate’s 50 Year offers an explosion of taste on the palate with prominent notes of maple sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, honey, and a dash of licorice. Its finish is almost endless; a rich and luxurious sip that keeps on going.
In general, though, this is a very pleasant, very enjoyable rum with a very distinct presentation, gorgeous looking bottle with some extra flair of the Mayan petate band.Update January 3, 2020: So... after reading through the hydrometer tests, I unfortunately discovered that Ron Zacapa is a company that absolutely loads their "premium rums" with additives like sugars and coloring such. This is something that disappointments me greatly. As noted on my recent review of Zacapa's Edicion Negra, "premium" rums with additives that aren't labeled mean an automatic three points off. That means the highest I can give this now is a 7. It won't go lower because this review is still otherwise true... I do love this rum regardless. Sadly, it's a flavored rum, not a pure rum. Hence the drop in rating.) I finally got my hands on Ron Zacapa 23... not a 750mL bottle, unfortunately, because they were out, but two 50mL bottles. I went ahead and opened one. Ron Zacapa Centenario is a premium rum produced in Guatemala by Rum Creation and Products, a subsidiary of Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala and distributed and marketed by Diageo. Zacapa was created in 1976 to celebrate the centenary of the foundation of Zacapa, a town in eastern Guatemala.
With this, I can do it. On the nose I get hints of vanilla, cocoa, and caramel. I've never been a big fan of bananas, and I was expecting that, but I get something more along the lines of plantain, which while I wouldn't say I like, I definitely prefer over banana. As a result of its quality and dedication to perfection, Appleton Estate rum doesn’t come cheap. The brand’s 50-Year-Old offers an unparalleled tasting experience that’s believed to be the oldest rum in the world. The dense, dark amber color of the liquid promises quality and its nose reveals honey, molasses and soft spices. The alternate method is to use the freshly fermented sugarcane juice, in a method called ‘rhum agricole’. These rums are commonly found on the French islands but are rare to find elsewhere. The sugarcane mixture is pressed to the point that all of the juice has been extracted before it’s fermented with water and yeast and then distilled.Diplomatico aims to support its home country through its rum production by providing sustainable jobs and keeping the health of the environment at its core. The brand uses an ecological treatment process to transform residual water into fertilizer for its sugarcane. The Zacapa name, for instance, highlights the rum’s connections to the landscape: derived from Nahuatl (Aztec) language, meaning “on the river of grass”, and created in 1976 to commemorate the 100 th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the city of Zacapa.
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