Flor De Caña Centenario 12 Rum

This is exactly what I love in a fantastic rum. It’s rich and bold without being a cloying sugar bomb. Just the perfect amount sweetness lingers on the lips with a nice long and clean finish. A lot of the usual suspects on the nose but refined and so much more complex with additional notes of whipped butter, buckwheat honey and white grape. The palate follows with the addition of warming spices, butterscotch and slightest hint of citrus peel. Not overly woody but terrifically aged with absolutely no dustiness or graininess from the casks. There’s no need to mask anything here. One of the most balanced rums I’ve had. Medium-light body with no syrupiness. This is a rum and not a bottled rum cocktail like so many others.

L: Brilliant deep copper with golden hues. Thin crest with fat slow drops. N: Smoked maple wood, caramelized oranges, muddled green bananas, dust, grassy with some vegetal notes. Brown sugar, cardamom, cloves & cinnamon coming from the oak. M: Light sweetness, faint tartness, cooked stone fruits & sautéed bananas with brown sugar syrup. Elegant rich smokiness with mapley aromas. Grassy with trace of woody baking spices. Oily body with fine velvety tannins. F: Woody, smoky & caramelized tropical fruits. O: A bit more refined than the Gran Reserva. Does OK as a sipper & makes good spirit-forward cocktails such as Rum Old Fashioned.

Aromas of vanilla, dark chocolate, caramel, hazelnut, and toasted coconut. Fairly rich mouthfeel. On the palate, notes of cinnamon, more vanilla and toasted coconut, charred oak, and subtle pineapple. Some detectable heat on the nose, but little to none on the finish – which is on the longer side, though dominated by the charred oak. 3.25/5.00 – Quite Good (neat)

Very mild, fairly thin...frankly a little underwhelming for a 12yo. Has a fresh, grassy-molasses nose, like dry hay. The palate is light caramel and almost no finish to speak of. The most flattering term I can think of is that this is subtle, with nothing off-putting...unfortunately there’s nothing here that draws me back to the glass either.

A nice medium-bodied rum. Starts off with a strong hint of caramel on the lips with traces of honey, pears and bananas. Overall, it's a subtle rum to sip after dessert. Ends with a sharp finish that can be a bit bitter if had before a meal. Cigar recommendation: Padron 1964 Anniversario, Avo Domaine Maduro, Hoyo de Monterrey Coronation

This rum generally starts with a sweet, flowery nose followed by a bit of oakiness and a very light sweetness. There was a hint of vanilla and perhaps caramel. I found it to be more mellow over ice. In general it had a smooth finish.