Zaya Gran Reserva 12-Year

Smooth and easy to drink. A little on the sweet side, but a good starter rum for introducing someone into sipping rum. Not my go to rum, but I won't turn it down.

Becoming A new self proclaimed Rum connoisseur is hard but I have to appreciate what this rum has to offer. This Zaya is the cause that started me on this journey tasting the finest rum in the world. With that said this is my favorite rum to mix with. It is sweet and with vanilla, oak , Caramel and fruit flavors infused.
I enjoy this rum as a mixer, but on the Sip Side I see it's flaws it's a little thin which takes away from the smoothness feel. I also feel without good aeration that the after taste could be a bit strong which I don't like my self. Also when I go to sip the alcohol aroma hurts my nose show it's very young " I think". The way I have countered this is by drinking it a little warm I find it becomes very tasty, enhances the flavors and much smoother to drink.
But all in all this is one of my favorite, " I love SWEET rum" I am already give through 2 bottles this year. My Rating is as a Mixer I give it a 10 but as a sipper I give it a 7.

Hope my advice helps.....

Tremenda botella mucho sabor en boca en nariz explosión de frutos rojos secos y fuerte el alcohol

Nose is heavy vanilla almost thick like a perfume

Taste isnt bad, its smooth, very thin, theres not much of a finish here. As a previous reviewer had stated " the high end of the low end" thats accurate. Smooth but not much going for it.

This rum has been on my wishlist for a long time now. If I had to describe this rum in one word that word would be SWEET, but I think all the hype that I had received about this bottle made me expect something better. I've been told this is the "best bottle of rum I have ever teased" by a good number of my rum drinking friends and family and I think that I was expecting more complexity. This rum tastes EXTREMELY sweet, with a strong flavor of vanilla and cane sugar. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this bottle. I just feel there are much better 12 year bottles that have the complexity that Zaya is missing. Rum's like Appleton Estate and Flor de Cana both have excellent 12 year rums that sit around the same shelf price. This is a bottle that will sit on my shelf for many years to come. I only gave this rum a 6/10 because it far from a bad bottle of rum. I can taste what makes this rum so popular, the sweetness and lack of complexity.

Etwas vom besten, das du im Glas haben kannst.
Mild und würzig zugleich in der Nase.
Karamell, Vanille, Trockenfrüchte und vieles mehr (sehr Süss) im Gaumen
Langer köstlicher Abgang

Something of the best you can have in the glass.
Mild and spicy at the same time in the nose.
A (very sweet) taste caramel, vanilla, dried fruit and much more
Long, delicious finish

The old presentation was better. I would not recommend to buy this one, there's better option for $35 Rums like Don Pancho 8 years.

It's sickly sweet and oh, the vanilla! Zaya Gran Reserva used to be a bit of a guilty pleasure but the reformulation is a syrupy mess. There are so many better rums in my collection these days.

You can buy this in Florida for less than $30 a bottle.
Nose: very sweet oak aroma. Really impressive. It gives you the feeling you're about to drink a great vintage reserva rum.
Taste: unfortunately that feeling didn't materialize. It tasted like a simple sugary watery drink with molasses.
Finish: very short with no discerning flavors.

Zaya from Trinidad was first intoduced to me in a small bistro in Shreveport Louisiana. Not available most places...in fact very hard to find even in most liquor stores. This rum is the smoothest, sweetest tasting rum l have ever had the pleasure of imbibing.