Zaya Gran Reserva 12-Year

Cheap vanilla flavor with a lack of smoothness. Better buying Kraken.

Nice sweetness, very smooth and tastefull, i will by it again

Not a bad 12 yo rum for the money. Never hesitate to recommend this rum to freinds & family.
Good entry level aged rum for the money

The nose carries very little astringency, and is simply bursting with vanilla and caramel. It smells sweet like an ice cream topping. Tasting it for the first time turns the same smells into flavors, and my palate is assaulted with an overabundance of vanilla and caramel. The mouth feel is oily, but the saccharin sweetness is the dominant characteristic here.
Tastes pretty good BUT carries a very odd and unpleasant aftertaste.
Similar to Seven Tiki.

Hmmmm. Not a favorite. A little to harsh. The color looks beautiful. The spice and vanilla are intriguing. I could see making rum balls with this. Which is sad for a $30 bottle. A LOT of mellowing (my entire ice cube-a big one at that- had to melt before it felt sippable) improves the experience, but it's a lot of effort.

I heard good things about this rum so I picked it up while on vacation in maine...I had to drive 40 miles to find a liquor store that had rum other than Bacardi Silver. Even then, I couldnt get past this taste of the topical gel the dentist puts on your gum before giving you a shot. But then I had a root canal a few weeks later and realized that topical actually tastes better. The sad part is that I could tell it was a nice tasting smooth rum under the blanket of that weird medicinal taste, but I couldnt get past it. Wont be buying again unless I'm forced to pick it or pick Bacardi Silver.

To the chase: starts off with a potent aroma of vanilla, rolls past the lips with vanilla, beads thinly off the tongue with vanilla, and finishes with a smooth vanilla. If you haven't guessed, it's all vanilla. This is the rum equivalent of chugging a bottle of vanilla extract.

The 12 year is superior.

This is a very smooth rum with a taste that lingers well after it has left my mouth. I had a sample at the liquor store and had to have it in my collection. Sweet, dark, caramel, with a hint of coconut.

Zaya used to be a favorite of mine, smooth with a great nose and easy drinking. Now this stuff tastes like medicine and it took every bit of me not to dump it down the drain. The taste is horrible now. I would not recommend buying this anytime soon. Overly sweet and even then the sweetness is not a good sweetness.

I had read such great things about this rum I have to say I was a little disappointed last night when I tried it. I get blasted with the overpowering caramel aroma and flavor. I will try it on ice to see if it has a life other than a mixing rum.

Additional review comments: After trying this 3 more times I think I either have a bad bottle or they have changed their way of creating this rum. It is not enjoyable neat, with water, rocks and I think it would not work well with Coke or any other soda. I read that the 12 of the bottle no longer refers to any age of the rum, but is letting you know that 12 different rums have been blended to create what is in the bottle.

I am not an age snob, don't care if color or sugar has been added to the rum as long as I enjoy the experience of drinking the rum. I can't say I am enjoying this one at all.