El Dorado Grand Special Reserve

Another retasting and a few points lost. I'd say that this release is a step up from the 1988. Better balanced, more complex and beter rounded. The nose is very fruity from pouring with roasted nuts and coffee. After airing you get some catamel and spice. The palate is complex yet very well balanced and true to the nose with fruits, sweet vanilla and toasted wood. The feeling on the palate is a velvety lightly warm rum. There is a lot of wood on the palate but not too dominant. The finish is medium to long with dried fruit, nuts and wood. Price to quality can be discussed but I think this is a collectible for many.

Un nez rond avec du vieux bois verni, du caramel, de l’encaustique et des fruits secs. Ce nez ressemble à celui d’un rhum hispanique mais plus complexe et moins caramélisé. La bouche est plutôt vive malgré l’ABV bas, beaucoup de caramel, du vieux bois verni. Une belle acidité, du vieux bois et des fruits secs tiennent ce rhum sur la longueur. Une belle expérience, surtout comparé à des rhums de type espagnols. Il faut attendre que le rhum s’oxyde dans le verre pour qu’il révèle tous ses arômes. On est pourtant loin de la promesse d’un des meilleurs rhums du monde faite à l’époque par les critiques du site Rum Ratings.

A heavy rum despite the low %. In the end, it goes too much into the bitter notes without developing the horniness of Velier Demeraras. It would certainly have benefited from 5 years less ageing. A great rum in terms of craftsmanship.

1992, my vintage must be tasted! Great concentrated nose, lots of spices and berries as well as ripe pineapple and caramel. Then more bitter than expected on the palate, lots of roasted flavors and tannins (burnt caramel, pipe tobacco, bitter orange) but also a pleasant fruit and a medium length finish. Very impressive, elegant old El Dorado, even if not quite worth the money. Reminds me partly of the 2012 vintages due to the slightly nutty and licoricey finish.

It’s a very approachable and incredible easy rum to drink. It really just rolls of the palette with huge amounts of brown sugar and currants. I fear it may be dosed but for a 25 year old rum there is remarkable little barrel influence and it is all sugar and dried fruit on the mouth. The finish is the weakest part of the rum, a bit short and lacking but the body is unmistakably good with real layers and complexity. It is the type of rum you could easily drink a glass off and not even notice. It lacks the excitement of other rums but at this age and taking it at face value it is a great rum

Etwas dünn, Melasse dominiert deutlich, etwas flach. Ich habe mir etwas mehr von DDL erwartet.

This is nothing like the regular El Dorado releases. Actually this is not my favorite style, but it's a f*cking good rum. It's like a big hug of warmness with everything you ever liked. A bit of sweet tounge, but here i don't mind. Just gotta wonder how this would be on 53% instead of 43...