El Dorado Special Reserve 15 year old

Country of Origin: Guyana

Age: 15 years

Price per bottle*: $30 in the Caribbean

Alcohol: 40%

Category: Premium Aged Rum

Taster’s Rating (10 is best):

Dave - 8.5 Flasks

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

Well balanced, medium amber colored rum. Understated tastes of char and smoke. Finish shows black licorice undertones (licorice flavor has varied from bottle to bottle).  Lively, but neither sweet nor dry, and a bit earthy. Very little caramel or molasses flavor, very little spice, vanilla flavor is non-existent.

Relatively speaking, El Dorado 15 year old rum adds licorice and anise flavors to the fruitcake mix of the 12, and finishes more dryly.  Compared to El Dorado 15 and 21, the 12 year old’s flavors are far more evocative of fruitcake, slightly more forward and sweeter, especially on the finish.  The 21 delivers substantial dry leather and tobacco, less fruit and a drier finish than either or its teenage El Dorado brethren (the 15 and 12 year olds).

Anecdotal Notes
El Dorado 15 Year Old is a classic rum with a very solid flavor. Definitely something to sip in small quantities, as its flavor can be a bit overpowering to the more delicate palates. Drink neat, room temperature, or with a little ice. A waste to use in mixed drinks.

Dave –  With nine widely varying types of stills at work (copper pot, steam-heated wooden, column, etc.), it’s no wonder El Dorado produces a wide variety of fine and uniquely tasting rums.  The difference between their 12 and 15 year old rums is far more than the extra years aging in used American oak bourbon casks – they are blends of rums produced in different stills yielding different drinks.  El Doarado 15 year old is a blend of rums, some aged for 25 years in used bourbon oak casks, produced in the Enmore and Diamond Coffey stills, the Port Mourant double wooden pot still and the Versailles single wooden pot still.  (For an interesting profile of DDL and its many stills, please see Tiare’s Mountain of Crushed Ice website at: EL DORADO RUM – THE LIQUID GOLD.

Taster's Opinion
El Dorado 15 Year Old is very good choice for those times when you want a very flavorful, classic style aged Caribbean sipping rum. Drink straight or with a little ice. A shame to mix - it's too rare and expensive. Considerably more refined than the El Dorado 12 year old.

Taster's Rating (10 is best):  Dave - 8.5 flasks

Most Recently Reviewed by: Dave. April, 2006 in Antigua, and June 8, 2006 at RnD's South tasting room in USA.

*750ml unless otherwise stated.