[...] Beverage Tasting Institute in Chicago gave it a rating of 95 points: Exceptional. You can read some reviews and opinions about the 23 year old rum; the bottle in the photo is of a 25 year old [...]

[...] 4 before you realize what you’ve done.  1796 is a deep, rich experience not unlike that of Ron Zacapa 23 with more pronounced sherry [...]

I just had this for the first time today – I’m definately in. Wow! Very smooth, many fine notes. My one brother-in-law is a huge rum fan, goes on a lot of Caribb. cruises and has given me tastes of many great rums. I usually buy Appleton 12 year. This rum is great. It is sweet, but IMHO not so sweet that it detracts from the overall experience.

Capn Jimbo, I hope you are not basing your bashing of RZ on your math, because it is wrong by a factor of FOUR. If you have four barrels and they each loose 10%, then the total loss is 10% NOT 40%. If there WAS a 40% loss and it was replaced with newer stock, then there would be a case to rail against the age claim. That’s not the case.

My travels to Guatemala have taken me to the factory on private tours and the allegation that the Rum is altered/sweetened in some way is somewhat cavalier and unsubstantiated. I have had various barrel tasting opportunities and can attest that the flavors are not due to additives or additions.

The solera process will yield changes to the profile over 1,3 ,5 or 10 years. If you are continually adding new rums from different barrels you have somewhat limited control over the blend.

To be quite frank, I am a professional taster (not rum, but coffee) and I have hand-carried bottles from 2002-09 and purchased domestic bottles from 2008-09. A vertical tasting of bottles from 2003,05,06,08 and 09 did offer some insights and while there is variation from bottle to bottle, the domestic purchases are not distinctly different. Nor are the bottles from the past two far apart from their wicker peers of yesteryear.

Basing your recollections of bygone bottles is not a particularly effective way to assess current quality. Often times when a once-rare product becomes available to a wider audience the attitude amongst the cognoscenti is to immediately remind the masses that it was better before it was available at your local store. Attitudes affect the results of tastings and unless performed fully blind, one cannot expect to taste beyond their prejudices.

I will be at the Zacapa plant next month while on business and will once again buy more of their products. The 15 year is quite nice as well.

And for the record, I think El Dorado 12 is superior to the 15. It is smoother.

I would just like to point out that the Zacapa 23 being sold in the shops today is not the same product that was for sale 3 years ago (in the same bottle but with a different label) and a completely different tasting product to what was available 6 years ago in the bottle with the wicker wrapping over the whole bottle.

As the distribution of the brand has increased and expanded, the quality of the product has dropped. This is to be expected I guess since the increased demand could not have been anticipated 20 years ago to fill more barrels.

By cutting our teeth on a flavored, sweetened product we come to expect that this is what “rum” is. So when your next dram is of say, Pusser’s Blue Label, Mount Gay Extra Old or Appleton Extra 12 Year the new drinker is likely to say “Good god! Those are not the rum I know”.

But they are.

It is the Z-product that is false and represents “rum” only inasmuch as more “rums” than not are chock full of flavorings, additives and adulterants to make the underlying, real rum, more marketable to an unknowing public. Worse yet, few of these rums are honestly labeled either as to being flavored, or as to actual age (or average age in the case of “solera”).

I believe that we – including independent websites such as yours, RnD, Bilgemunkey, Scottes, the Count, et al – have an obligation to tell the truth and promote real, pure and unadulterated rum. It is only then that rum can, like good whiskey, become a “noble spirit”. Until then it will remain the drink of modern pirates and snake oil purveyors.

Tasty but false.

I exclude the commercial sites like the Ministry, Burr, Polished Palate and others that act only to promote rum uncritically in the form of faux competition and rum festivals. A source of entertainment but not real and critical information.

Personally, I extend kudos to distillers like R. L. Seale who are committed and promote a real and pure product that is far superior to the altered stuff.

The sweetness is an issue for some and not for others. It’s been a long time since I wrote the review here, and to be honest were I to review it again I’d probably lower the rating to a 4. The fact remains though that this is a good rum for sipping or mixing and I’ve found it to be one of the best rums for beginners. People who are not used to drinking rum other than in “Rum & Cokes” or blended daiquiris seem to have their eyes opened by Zacapa more than just about any other rum I have on my shelf. It delivers that “Ah-HA!” moment almost every time.