Tiki Tastings: El Dorado Special Reserve 15-Year

There are mixing rums and there are sipping rums. Some rums can really fall into both categories – after all, your drinks will always taste better if you are using a better tasting spirit to start out with – but, for us, the El Dorado Special Reserve 15-Year Rum is a sipping rum. The rum – which comes in a beautiful bottle – is made with a blend if 15-25 year old rums and aged in bourbon oak casks.

The first thing you’ll smell when you open this rum is brown sugar. It is definitely the dominant aroma, followed by vanilla, molasses and banana. It definitely has a tropical aroma to it, but the aromas are distinct and don’t run together. Those aromas carry over into the body of the rum so you’re tasting brown sugar, caramel, vanilla and a hint of overripe fruit. You’ll also find some notes of oak, which bring a spicy quality to the rum. The result of this is that this rum reminds us of a really, really outstanding rum cake – the kind of cake that you want seconds of even before you finish your first slice. It is extremely smooth and the flavors, like the aromas, are very clean and clear. It has a medium length finish that fades gently into a soft caramel. It is definitely a rum that finishes as smoothly as it starts.

This is a rum that is easy to drink slowly and savor. It is also the kind of rum that makes a big impression on someone who usually opts for some aged whiskey or bourbon when they are drinking because they simply don’t know that rum can be this good.

Rum Rating: 5/5

Rum Rating Scale:
0/5 – Is this even rum?
1/5 – Bad. Not worth buying and not worth drinking
2/5 – Not very good, but could be covered up with mixers.
3/5 – Good, versatile rum.
4/5 – Great rum, with complex flavors that is outstanding on its own or in cocktails.
5/5 – Amazing rum. Don’t even think about covering it up with mixers.