DESCRIPTION
This stunning amber rum is full-bodied, with a rich complexity of flavors and a smooth finish that stays with you, long after the swallow. The Centenario 18 is almost two decades in the making, and you can taste the craftsmanship and tradition in every drop.
Palate
A rich entry leads to a viscous, dryish, full-bodied palate with dark chocolate, caramel, roasted nuts, and brown spice flavors. Finishes with a long, charred oak, vanilla, and burnt nut fade.
Gold Medal Winner at San Francisco World Spirits Competition
This is first-class Guatemalan rum is made from virgin sugar cane honey–the first press of the sugar cane that’s boiled down to thicken–rather than molasses, which is a byproduct of the sugar-making process. This results in a finer, sweeter, smoother rum. Aged in the solera method, like Sherry, the Zacapa Centenario is very dark–mahogony with coppery tints–and has a clove, cocoa, cinnamon and orange peel-scented nose. The palate is sweet and smooth, with cocoa, orange and honey flavors and a sensuous, viscous texture. It finishes long and smooth. It received 97 points from the Beverage Tasting Institute and a Gold Medal at the 2007 International Cane Spirits Festival.
Just as its name states, this relatively new rum from Gosling’s has been around a while. While the recipe is more than a century-and-a-half old, the rum has only been commercially available since 2005. Each bottle is hand-filled, hand-labeled, individually numbered and sealed with a cork and wax, but it’s the elixir that’s inside that counts. Reportedly based on a secret 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.
Distilled from 100% Dominican Republic molasses in the company’s continuous, two-column still, the fresh distillate is aged in used, medium-toasted, American white oak casks between five and fourteen years. After aging in American oak casks, the maturation process continues in select European first-filled sherry casks. Unlike most of the other Brugal rums, the casks for Brugal 1888 are aged horizontally, ensuring more contact between the wood and the spirit.
The result is a bright, dark amber spirit that beckons to be tasted.
The nose opens with hints of tropical flowers followed by chocolate, spice and fruit notes. The initial taste of chocolate and dried fruit yields to a complex smooth mouthfeel highlighted by ripe pear, raisin, wood and dark fruit. The finish is long and smooth. Toffee, cararmel, smoky oak and notes of spice usher the palate through the finish.
