Zaya Gran Reserva 12-Year

To me, it doesn't have a lot of flavor. The taste is mellow, leathery and almost stale. It is smooth with very little bite and is a good sipper for the price.

I tried this for the first time at Rumtoberfest @ Bahama Breeze. To be sure, it had a wonderful aroma of vanilla and brown sugar. Those scents also translated to the taste and I believe there was just a slight touch of orange citrus as well as a touch of cocoa. I did not feel any smoke and this was extremely smooth.

Wonderful Trinidadian stuff, a unique sweetness. Don't let anyone waste this in a coke or mixed drink! Straight up or on the rocks or get off my deck!

To start with!!The bottle is heavy and more nicr than Ron Zacapa! Zaya becomes better and better staying in the glas. I tasted it direct after opening it and same with Ron Zacapa and they did smell almost simmular but the after taste was better for Ron Zacapa. After som minutes in the air Zaya becoming better and better. But in the end Zacapa is more full body and longer aftertaste. Sorry I would have liked Zaya to be better because my expectations was higher on the product. You need to have in the collection because the bottle is formidable.

Tastes like pure vanilla. Some might find Zaya a bit sweet, but truly loaded with flavor. Inexpensive for the quality.

I appear to be in the in the minority by not liking this rum, but it was moving away from rum into the realm of vanilla flavoured alcohols. My wife also commented upon the overwhelming vanilla scent and flavor. We ended up giving the bottle away.

Was pretty dissapointet with this one.. sweet but boring. Would deffinently buy other rums in this pricerange.

Zaya is sweet. There's a bit of complexity in there, enough to make it worth trying should you come across it at a bar, but unless you have a real sweet tooth don't buy a bottle. Might be good for sharing with friends who drink only sugary concoctions and find neat spirits unthinkable.

This is a nice rum on the sweet side with a fair amount of vanilla and toffee. It does lack a bit of complexity and I would proberly chose another rum in this price range next time (Diplomatico, Plantation 20 XO)

Wonderfully smooth with vanilla and sweet notes to it. A mild but well bodied flavor, which is very enjoyable to sip neat or use in a mixed drink.

**Update 1/18 - "new" formula Zaya. What a disappointment. I used to like this one a lot. Now I find it hard to even sip, as others have noted, due to it's astringent, cough syrup/vanilla extract rude-slap-in-the-palate taste it now possesses.
I'll manage to mix this in my mai-tai and it's okay to drink in a mixer, but not stand alone. I will not be buying this one again, sadly.