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

Dave – Montecristo 12 yar aged rum shows a brilliant amber color through the clear glass bottle, and doesn’ fade in your glass.  Aromas at just the right intensity include sweet caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, alcohol, light spices (cinnamon, clove and nutmeg).  Initial tasting reveals nice vanilla and caramel flavors from aging in used American oak bourbon barrels, a bit of dry aged leather, a rather soft blend of rums produced in pot and continuous column stills.  The medium weight body amply carries the moderate flavors before a short duration finish that is drier than the aromas suggest, ultimately ending just off sweet.

Roger - Light flavors of sweet caramel and molasses can be discerned upon your first taste.  Montecristo is a slightly vicious medium bodied rum that is amber-golden in color. Some say it has a slightly pinkish hue to it thought I don't see it.

Anecdotal Notes

Dave – Distilled by Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala group  (ILG), the same facility that produces Ron Zacapa and Ron Botran.  However, Montecristo does not exhibit their signature sweet sherry flavors so characteristic of it’s cousins.  I suspect Montecristo foregoes aging in those special barrels. 

Don’t confuse Montecristo with a “rhum agricole” – the differences are numerous. Montecristo is arguably doing themselves a disservice (and confusing rum aficionados) by calling their aged rum “agricultural” because it is distilled from a wash of sugar cane juice and not molasses.    Agricole means more than simply “fresh sugar cane juice-based rum.”  It encompasses specific aspects of distillation and production techniques.  Ask anyone from Martinique if you can suffer the lecture.  Or ask a Brazilian, and be prepared to go off on various cachaça tangents.  Visit the ancient Callwood distillery on Tortola, or River Antoine on Grenada, and they’ll politely offer you a sample of their rum while explaining how they harvest fresh estate-grown sugar cane for the juice in their unique pot still spirits.   I doubt agricole is in their vocabulary.

Roger - Montecristo made a great first impression on the rum scene in 2002 when it was awarded the Best Rum of 2002 by Wine and Sprits Magazine. The next year it won the Gold Medal award at the San Francisco World Sprits Competition.

Taster’s Opinion

Dave – Overall, Montecristo 12 is a pleasant sniffing and sipping experience though not overly distinctive.  Accept Montecristo for what it is: a nice aged rum that exhibits fine Guatemalan style, with sweet forward flavors, long aging in wood, and wonderful depth of character.   Rum categories are, in the words of Pirates of the Caribbean “more like guidelines anyway.”

In a blind tasting, I would identify Montecristo most closely with a Latin American rum.  If your tastes gravitate towards Guatemala, Costa Rica or Venezuela you won’t go wrong with it.  Guatemalan rum, both culturally and style-wise, are about as far from an agricole rhum as you’ll find.  Regardless of what rum category label you put on it, Montecristo makes for a nice aged easy-sipping rum.  The rum’s classic vanilla and caramel flavors reward sipping it neat, with a piece of ice or in a subtle cocktail that brings out its delicate flavors.

Roger - Montecristo 12 year aged rum is best sipped neat or on the rocks, though it doesn't require ice to soften it. I wouldn't recommend it for cocktails as it's too good for that. This is an exceptional example of value-priced, high quality rum – a worthy addition to an aficionado's collection.

Taster's Rating (10 is best):  Dave – 8 Flasks; Roger - 8.5 Flasks

Most recently tasted by:  Dave in June 2011 at RnD’s South Tasting Room; and Roger in September, 2006 at RnD's North asting room, USA.

*750ml unless otherwise stated.