Objective Notes
Very Smooth (on the RnD scale of Harsh-Smooth-Very Smooth-Extremely Smooth).

Columbus Añejo rum displays hues of golden honey or very light amber. Moving the glass toward your nose you discover gentle aromas of buttery caramel and vanilla that’s satisfyingly clean with no off alcohol aromas. Moving the glass to you lips your first taste reveals a medium body and pleasantly smooth rum that’s nicely viscous leaving a mouth warming sensation. The flavors are not complex, but they are closely related to the aromas you discovered a short while ago, with a little spice and nuttiness added. A slightly dry finish of medium length leaves the slightest ting of warmth on the sides of your tongue and throat.

Anecdotal Notes

Maybe we live right, perhaps we just got lucky, but serendipity and coincidence were definitely navigating RnD for two different rendezvous with Columbus.  Last Spring, Dave brought a bottle of Columbus  Añejo home from the island of Hispaniola after a wonderful vacation to the Dominican Republic with my wife. He stashed it neatly away in his locker, in the section reserved for Dominican rums, and then forgot about it.  Fast forward to October, as Roger and his wife were leaving Spain on a cruise ship heading southwest across the Atlantic, RnD made contact via email, discussing rum and Columbus’ first Voyage of Discovery.  Roger was excited to drink from the bottle he’d purchased in Europe.  This jogged Dave’s memory of the rum he tucked away several months before.  Quickly, a pact was made.  We’d each toast to October 12, the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World, by sipping Columbus Añejo rum in our own res

pectful way.  Roger had it made; he just had to look over the rail of his balcony on the cruise liner, watching the waves roll by. Fortune didn’t just smile on Dave however, it shone like a Cheshire cat’s grin so marvelous and huge he’s still in disbelief.  It just so happened that the world’s only accurate, hand built replica of the Niña was docked at Dave’s sailing club in San Francisco Bay.  He’d board the ship, bring along the bottle, take a sip and a pic, and voila! a magnificent synergy of rum and history.   Yep, these are fine lives.

Taster’s Opinion
Roger - What wonderful rum for its age and price point! Surprisingly, so amazingly smooth and clean in nature Columbus Rum can stand on it’s own and be enjoyed neat. But this rum can be enjoyed in any way as it makes nice everyday rum that won’t break the bank. The day I found Columbus in Barcelona, Spain (not 800 yards from the 100 foot statue of the “Admiral of the Ocean Sea”) the next rum in quality in the store was 3 times the price (and wasn’t nearly as good). Needless to say I was very happy to have Columbus with me on my way to the New World as I crossed the Atlantic.

Dave - Columbus is nearly an ideal everyday rum, smooth and with sufficient complexity to sip neat or mix a cocktail in which you want a rum with a substantial body and a full flavor.  At the price I paid, it’s a steal, and amazing what $7 buys in the Caribbean.  Sure, Columbus Añejo is positioned toward the low-end of Barcelo’s exceptional range of delicious and complex rums.  But Christopher Columbus and crew would have been thankful indeed if they had anything nearly this good on the Niña or the Santa Maria.

Taster's Rating (10 is best):

Roger - 8 Flasks

Dave - 7.5 Flasks

Most recently tasted by RnD on Columbus Day, October 12, 2008 at these waypoints:

Roger, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean at coordinates 33 09’ N by  33 20’ W;

Dave, staring at la Niña docked in San Francisco Bay, USA at coordinates 37° 30’ 30” N by 122° 12’ 36” W.