El Dorado 8 Year Rum

Rating: 14/23 I have Bacardi 8 and I have El Dorado 8. Seem's like I ought to try them together. N: Quite sweet, but also funky. There's a definite tartness here that makes me think of bit of oloroso casks. Also some nuttiness and savoriness. The scents are a bit rough. I do get a little molasses in here as well. Barrel notes are faint and burnt sugar stands out a bit more. P: Sweet with blackstrap molasses entering the questionable caramel territory with burnt sugar, sharp orange zest, some maple at points, a kind of almond paste and peanut nuttiness. There's some spice in the clove and black pepper realm too. This is an aggressive palate that is rough around the edges. There's a decent number of edgy flavors, but the overall complexity and balance could use some work. F: A bit of that sharpness from the warring flavors remains. I get orange, lemon, and lime on the fruit side. Burnt sugar at points. Some sort of ambiguous wood. Suggestions of blackstrap molasses. - Conclusion - This is super rich and full, but it could really use some refinement. It's edgy approaching the way that Plantation Xaymaca is. The Plantation strikes me as more complex, but this strikes me as richer like Pusser's Gunpowder Proof. I would probably not have guessed that this was only 40% ABV, though I wouldn't have put it above 50% either. What about that Bacardi though? This is richer and fuller, but I feel like the Bacardi 8 is a better executed product. Between the two, I'd take it by a nose. Or maybe not. Honestly, I could go either way with these two. That has to mean that this is also a 14. Thanks for the sample @ctbeck11 !

Nose - molasses, tobacco, brown sugar, coffee, butterscotch, orange, vanilla, leather, dark chocolate, cookie dough, allspice, raisin toast, baked apple, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - molasses, butterscotch, apple, vanilla, tobacco, sweet floral notes, peanut butter fudge, nutmeg, allspice, raisin toast, black pepper, orange, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with molasses, baking spice, and burnt toast flavors. This is another inexpensive mixing rum I picked up a while back, but it’s actually not too terrible as a sipper. The nose is rich and dark, with molasses, butterscotch, burnt raisin toast, and baking spices. The palate is a bit watery and doesn’t carry the same richness. There’s more molasses, some peanut butter fudge nuttiness, and a hint of orange. The nose on this is much better than the palate. It actually contains many of those dark notes I enjoy encountering on bourbons. The most disappointing aspects here are the mouthfeel and finish. It tastes overly diluted and the flavors start veering into sour territory around the mid palate. For me, this is better than average and teeters right on the edge of sippability. However, it’s more than capable as a mixer. I’ve made some pretty delicious Rum Flips with it over the past year.

This rum is tasty. Pleasuring taste, nice warmth, beautiful amber-brown colour and delicious smell. This one almost drink itself. Not so distinctive as 12yo, but it's rather complementary to it than being it's weaker brother. It have usual taste palette for middle-aged rums, nothing distinctive, but all well balanced and sugarcoated with some kind of delicious molasses sweetness. For this, it's one of my favourite benefit-cost rums here. Well, isn't the rating here beautiful? I generally like this one, and rate (in it's category its well above average rum) by seven (and a 3/4). Other fella rather dislikes this one and regrets his 18 EUR purchase, all that for rating 7...

All about the oak. Direct comparison with doorly's 14 and jack daniel's barrel proof. After a few sips they all smell the same and even start to taste the same: oak. Expected from jack, but not the rums. Whats the point? Doorly is a bit more complex and keeps a (very slight) rum flavor compared to el dorado, so thats my favorite, but el dorado only 20 euros, so will use it for mixing. Jack daniels astringent, sharp, sour. Better drink it on its own. When I asked others whether its rum or whisky they think whisky (bourbon).

The scent was typical for a well aged rum, but from a distance, I did get some of the "funk" that I've been hearing so much about. The initial taste is light, but that's from proof only. Flavors of the barrel and sugar are easily detected, and as for the "funk," I taste no more than the dried bitter flavors of, say, a date or raisin. Getting past all of that, the finish is a bit weak with the caramelized sugars being the last thing to leave.

Aroma is light brown sugar and dark cherry fruitiness. Hard to pin down the flavors. Overripe tropical fruits, mostly. Side-by-side with the 12yr version, this is initially the harsher one. A couple or three sips in it becomes okay. Its youth is apparent in the taste and mouth-feel, much like a less-aged whiskey. I think this is best used as a mixer versus a sipper. Rating based on neat sipping.