A bit disappointed in the taste. I was expecting more funk but found it quite bland. Used it as a mixer.

I wasnt a fan of this. It only tasted like ethanol to me and had a weird aftertaste.

Good amount of funk in the flavour profile, heavy on the bananas, but not a fan of the alcoholic taste in the end

Tastes great on its own but is also great in drinks/cocktails. A bit of exciting funk in the taste notes.

A very dark rum which is best used in drinks. Leans on it's history.

Great rum. Tastes nice. In general a fan of Plantation rums and this is one of the better ones.

Easy to drink, sweet and not too dry. More hype than quality

Of course there are better tastes out there, but not all of them are this cheap. Worth it.

Not so strong, good rhum to have in the cabinet. Main interest to be made in Peru

Nose: sherry & rum

Taste: the cognac comes in strong in your mouth, it has a little but of sweetness to it.

After taste: Goes down smooth with a little bit of burn you expect from a cognac.

Conclusion: This a fine rum if you like cognac, for me the rum is not present enough or balanced well with the sherry. It is a nice after dinner sipper.

Nose: sweet alcohol.

Taste: tasty, but not tasteful. I taste a bit of caramel and alcohol but very balanced.

After taste: Goes down surprisingly smooth. There is that small after burn on the stomach but not annoying.

Conclusion: This rum is okay, it leans towards alcohol then taste for me but for the price this is within expectations.

For those that really don't like coffee, but want subtle hints of coffee notes in this Venezuelan rum, this one may be for you. However, at $53 US, one can save about $15 US by getting a bottle of Dictador 12 with more coffee notes. That company also sells coffee beans and uses the casks where they were stored to age their rums. This Santa Teresa 1796 has final aging in "American White Oak casks used to age a rum-based cold brew made of Arabica coffee beans grown in the Hacienda Santa Teresa". This is a huge difference in coffee barrels used for final aging. The gift box also has a long explanation about all of the different stages of aging, which I won't go into here. Yes, this is an elaborate creation.

Just like the subtle notes of their Speyside Whisky Cask Finish, the notes on this one are quite subtle. In both of them, one can still taste the Venezuelan rum as the base, but both strike me as this being nothing but a marketing tactic.

I tried adding some to my morning cup of coffee made with Nicaraguan Dark Roast Arabica coffee. I have been using the much cheaper Pusser's 84 to make my Caribbean Coffee. Well, using this limited edition Santa Teresa 1796 for this purpose is basically a waste. This is a rum for those who wish to keep the taste of rum while adding subtle notes of something else.

Barely kept me interested. Not much going on. Used as a mixer

Isn't it weird that you never see this in the DR where it's made?

A good solera with a smooth finish until the burn kicks in. Great mixer.

Don't be shy about using this to make a daiquiri or even, if you like, a Dr. Branca's Fuzzy Banana.

V chuti a voni vyrazny ananas, korenie. Sladky!!!!

As a novice rum aficionado,Apr 24, I selected a bottle of Vizcaya Black because I loved the bottle…it looked good and, as it turned out, it was better than good. It was/is a GREAT rum that is possibly my favorite mixer so far. I won’t ever be without this rum on my shelf.

Great aroma, and clean dry taste that works well in cocktails.

In honour of National Rum Day 2024, tonight’s rum is Plantation XO 20th Anniversary Edition! With this rum not available nearby, I grabbed this bottle at the Phoenix Airport Duty Free when heading home. First aged in bourbon casks in Barbados, this rum is then matured in France using, small Ferrand French oak casks. So let’s get to it shall we?

In the glass, the color is of copper and orange. There’s nice legs that crawl down the inside of the the glass and it’s welcoming. The nose is light, with notes of sour pineapple, coconut, vanilla and delicate chocolate. It does carry a bit of acetone, but it’s soft and not off putting.

On the lips it’s instantly sweet and there’s no bite; so, it’s an easy sipper. The first smack is fully vanilla and nuts, with musty pineapple kicking hard afterwards. In the mouth it maintains an easy feel, no burn; still it carries slight black pepper note.

Sip after sip, that pineapple transitions to toffee rapped in vanilla with traces of spice chasing them both. Coconut is present there too and delivers a sweet coconut-vanailla blend on the tongue. In the throat it’s delicate with only a modest heat. Newbie rum drinkers will like it for that reason alone. The finish, however, is long and turns sour or on the back of the tongue. That’s not terrible but nor is it pleasing;

Let’s just say I find the finish unfavourable and un-rum-like. It losses points for that, which brings me to rate this rum as 7/10. The strong artificial sweetness also has an impact on my rating; it’s a bit too much. Still, this is a sipper, or if you prefer blend with a tart fruit juice like pineapple or lime. The rum’s sugars will offset it nicely. This ticks off number 415 of my 500 rum goal. See more of my reviews at: https://shorturl.at/64Tyt. Cheers and enjoy.

Not bad at all. My sailing buddies and I use the Diplomatico Exclusiva as our sipper benchmark. The Diplomatico seems to have a spicier (as in cinnamon) finish and is a tad sweeter with perhaps a bit more depth. But this one is a smooth sipper with a hint of vanilla.

I gave this one a chance today after reading all of the fine print on the back label in the store. It is macerated with dark chocolate from the nearby Lydgate Farms on Kauai. Since I love me some chocolate and this is the only way to cover up for their awful white and dark rums, this works for me. Being twice distilled probably also helped. It is also bottled at 80 proof and I would venture to say that the added sugar is very little, if any at all. Why mess up one of the best chocolates in the world! Other rum lovers may find this one to have too much chocolate. As you can tell, I REALLY don't like their basic rums.

9:On the nose, the first impression we get is the classical Bajan spectre, with all coconut, butterscotch, dried fruits, bourbon touch, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, toasted wood... All very tempting 😋. Going into more roasted/medicinal waters with roasted nuts, baking spices, some pastry, milk chocolate, port and nail polish, nicely balanced. Aeration gives us, strangely, glue note, then goes in the territory of vegetal notes with fennel and celery with some flowery touch, becoming more dry with peanut note after a nice rest🙂.
8,5:On the palate, the attack is strong, first a bit unbalanced as it is astrigent, salty, spicy. When the tornado calms down, we get butterscotch, roasted nuts, chocolate, coconut, dried fruits, vanilla, the wood is very toasted, it quickly becomes dry and a bit bitter. Out of a nowhere it is citrusy with bourbon touch and becoming more and more roasted with some metallic note and after a while the wood is a bit charred. Well, expected more....
8,5:The finish is full of toasted wood, dry, with some dried fruits, caramel, burnt sugar, here we also get some charred wood after.

Nice tasting run, nothing out of the ordinary to make me remember it above others, apart from the volcano aging claim and a nice bottle. Quite happy to have another glass

Caramel and ethanol aroma; vanilla and caramel in start, pepper and honey with wooden finish of the body; lasting heatin tail.

A bit disappointed in the taste. I was expecting more funk but found it quite bland. Used it as a mixer.

I wasnt a fan of this. It only tasted like ethanol to me and had a weird aftertaste.

Good amount of funk in the flavour profile, heavy on the bananas, but not a fan of the alcoholic taste in the end

Tastes great on its own but is also great in drinks/cocktails. A bit of exciting funk in the taste notes.

A very dark rum which is best used in drinks. Leans on it's history.

Great rum. Tastes nice. In general a fan of Plantation rums and this is one of the better ones.

Easy to drink, sweet and not too dry. More hype than quality

Of course there are better tastes out there, but not all of them are this cheap. Worth it.

Not so strong, good rhum to have in the cabinet. Main interest to be made in Peru

Nose: sherry & rum

Taste: the cognac comes in strong in your mouth, it has a little but of sweetness to it.

After taste: Goes down smooth with a little bit of burn you expect from a cognac.

Conclusion: This a fine rum if you like cognac, for me the rum is not present enough or balanced well with the sherry. It is a nice after dinner sipper.

Nose: sweet alcohol.

Taste: tasty, but not tasteful. I taste a bit of caramel and alcohol but very balanced.

After taste: Goes down surprisingly smooth. There is that small after burn on the stomach but not annoying.

Conclusion: This rum is okay, it leans towards alcohol then taste for me but for the price this is within expectations.

For those that really don't like coffee, but want subtle hints of coffee notes in this Venezuelan rum, this one may be for you. However, at $53 US, one can save about $15 US by getting a bottle of Dictador 12 with more coffee notes. That company also sells coffee beans and uses the casks where they were stored to age their rums. This Santa Teresa 1796 has final aging in "American White Oak casks used to age a rum-based cold brew made of Arabica coffee beans grown in the Hacienda Santa Teresa". This is a huge difference in coffee barrels used for final aging. The gift box also has a long explanation about all of the different stages of aging, which I won't go into here. Yes, this is an elaborate creation.

Just like the subtle notes of their Speyside Whisky Cask Finish, the notes on this one are quite subtle. In both of them, one can still taste the Venezuelan rum as the base, but both strike me as this being nothing but a marketing tactic.

I tried adding some to my morning cup of coffee made with Nicaraguan Dark Roast Arabica coffee. I have been using the much cheaper Pusser's 84 to make my Caribbean Coffee. Well, using this limited edition Santa Teresa 1796 for this purpose is basically a waste. This is a rum for those who wish to keep the taste of rum while adding subtle notes of something else.

Barely kept me interested. Not much going on. Used as a mixer

Isn't it weird that you never see this in the DR where it's made?

A good solera with a smooth finish until the burn kicks in. Great mixer.

Don't be shy about using this to make a daiquiri or even, if you like, a Dr. Branca's Fuzzy Banana.

V chuti a voni vyrazny ananas, korenie. Sladky!!!!

As a novice rum aficionado,Apr 24, I selected a bottle of Vizcaya Black because I loved the bottle…it looked good and, as it turned out, it was better than good. It was/is a GREAT rum that is possibly my favorite mixer so far. I won’t ever be without this rum on my shelf.

Great aroma, and clean dry taste that works well in cocktails.

In honour of National Rum Day 2024, tonight’s rum is Plantation XO 20th Anniversary Edition! With this rum not available nearby, I grabbed this bottle at the Phoenix Airport Duty Free when heading home. First aged in bourbon casks in Barbados, this rum is then matured in France using, small Ferrand French oak casks. So let’s get to it shall we?

In the glass, the color is of copper and orange. There’s nice legs that crawl down the inside of the the glass and it’s welcoming. The nose is light, with notes of sour pineapple, coconut, vanilla and delicate chocolate. It does carry a bit of acetone, but it’s soft and not off putting.

On the lips it’s instantly sweet and there’s no bite; so, it’s an easy sipper. The first smack is fully vanilla and nuts, with musty pineapple kicking hard afterwards. In the mouth it maintains an easy feel, no burn; still it carries slight black pepper note.

Sip after sip, that pineapple transitions to toffee rapped in vanilla with traces of spice chasing them both. Coconut is present there too and delivers a sweet coconut-vanailla blend on the tongue. In the throat it’s delicate with only a modest heat. Newbie rum drinkers will like it for that reason alone. The finish, however, is long and turns sour or on the back of the tongue. That’s not terrible but nor is it pleasing;

Let’s just say I find the finish unfavourable and un-rum-like. It losses points for that, which brings me to rate this rum as 7/10. The strong artificial sweetness also has an impact on my rating; it’s a bit too much. Still, this is a sipper, or if you prefer blend with a tart fruit juice like pineapple or lime. The rum’s sugars will offset it nicely. This ticks off number 415 of my 500 rum goal. See more of my reviews at: https://shorturl.at/64Tyt. Cheers and enjoy.

Not bad at all. My sailing buddies and I use the Diplomatico Exclusiva as our sipper benchmark. The Diplomatico seems to have a spicier (as in cinnamon) finish and is a tad sweeter with perhaps a bit more depth. But this one is a smooth sipper with a hint of vanilla.

I gave this one a chance today after reading all of the fine print on the back label in the store. It is macerated with dark chocolate from the nearby Lydgate Farms on Kauai. Since I love me some chocolate and this is the only way to cover up for their awful white and dark rums, this works for me. Being twice distilled probably also helped. It is also bottled at 80 proof and I would venture to say that the added sugar is very little, if any at all. Why mess up one of the best chocolates in the world! Other rum lovers may find this one to have too much chocolate. As you can tell, I REALLY don't like their basic rums.

9:On the nose, the first impression we get is the classical Bajan spectre, with all coconut, butterscotch, dried fruits, bourbon touch, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, toasted wood... All very tempting 😋. Going into more roasted/medicinal waters with roasted nuts, baking spices, some pastry, milk chocolate, port and nail polish, nicely balanced. Aeration gives us, strangely, glue note, then goes in the territory of vegetal notes with fennel and celery with some flowery touch, becoming more dry with peanut note after a nice rest🙂.
8,5:On the palate, the attack is strong, first a bit unbalanced as it is astrigent, salty, spicy. When the tornado calms down, we get butterscotch, roasted nuts, chocolate, coconut, dried fruits, vanilla, the wood is very toasted, it quickly becomes dry and a bit bitter. Out of a nowhere it is citrusy with bourbon touch and becoming more and more roasted with some metallic note and after a while the wood is a bit charred. Well, expected more....
8,5:The finish is full of toasted wood, dry, with some dried fruits, caramel, burnt sugar, here we also get some charred wood after.

Nice tasting run, nothing out of the ordinary to make me remember it above others, apart from the volcano aging claim and a nice bottle. Quite happy to have another glass

Caramel and ethanol aroma; vanilla and caramel in start, pepper and honey with wooden finish of the body; lasting heatin tail.