Zaya Grande Reserva 16-Year

It still has that artificial nose to it like the 12, only with more substantial body.

Smells....strange, like a freshly burnt caramel apple. Tastes....off. Definitely a fruity, almost green sour apple and burnt toffee/caramel taste. Sweet finish but a weird and not pleasing aftertaste.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t a big Zaya fan to start with but I received this bottle as a gift, and decided to take it with me on vacation. Some acquaintances I know really enjoy Zaya and I was determined to challenge my preconceptions, while I was away. Alas, I confirmed that Zaya does not dance with my pallet. It is a smooth rum, but the taste is just “off”, and I lack the ability to effectively describe just how bad this rum tastes. Good thing I brought the Mt Gay XO with me as well!

So I’ve had zaya 12 and thought the 16 would be better, instead I’m a bit disappointed. Certainly similar but the 16 seemed to have almost an artificial vanilla taste. A bit plasticy at first. Not a bad rum, just expected something at least a little better than the 12

Very sweet, thankfully that is what I prefer.
Initial flavours of pineapple and butterscotch. Not sure its worth the price I paid however.

Pineapple and vanilla come through almost immediately. One of the very few rums I’ve ever had with the pineapple aura. For the price this isn’t bad. Is this a “premium” rum? No...but for sipping without pretense it’s not bad: not great but not bad. It’s a B-. Just pour over a little ice and forget about the pandemic!!

I read various review about Zaya, so during the Holidays, I purchased a bottle of Zaya 16. My expectations were to be something similar to Diplomatico Gran Reserva, but what I got was a mouth full of spices, and tart. I tried on ice, and not much improvement. Some of my friends liked it, but I guess this one is not for me. I left it with my friend to enjoy.

Very nice rum with strong overtones of vanilla to separate it from the rest of the pack at this price point.

This has replaced the 12 year old bottlings just about everywhere I have looked recently... at the same price, it's a supermarket rum for those looking to step out from bacardi gold and into something to sip on its own. It is, like its younger sibling, a good introductory rum, but if you're going to expand your range and keep a bottle of this around, it's better as a mixer - something heavy on the sugar to use judiciously if you want to offset something strong on citrus.

The color is a nice golden brown, but once you taste it you realize 16 year old rum shouldn't be legal. It has a rubbing alcohol backdrop with sugar to make you think it is older