Zaya Gran Reserva 12-Year

I'll admit I haven't tried every rum out there, but I have tried a lot, so I'll reserve 10 just in case I find better someday. Love the smoothness and vanilla undertones. Wonderful for sipping and a great value.

Zaya is one of my introductory rums. It's where I started when I began drinking rum in the way that it was meant. Slightly sweet with a gorgeous caramel finish, this rum is an excellent way to end a day. The price point on the bottle is just about right (@$25/bottle) so as not to break the bank.

We enjoyed the original parent of this much less deserving offspring...We are so sad. The original Zaya was from Guatemala, but due to Zaya losing out regarding distribution rights to another Solera Method rum company (which I will not mentioned, but it is way overpriced and not nearly as good as Guatemalan Zaya was), at last the demise of what Zaya truly was, a world-class rum. My husband and I have tried many many rums, and the original Guatemalan Zaya was in a class of it's own--flavor, richness, smoothness, subtle bouquet that came out all along the palate from start to finish and with a delectable balance...oh we so miss those days. Anyone here who may remember the original Zaya absolutely knows what I'm describing. Our crisis with Zaya's change began suddenly we noticed a distinct change in flavor with an unbalanced forward sweet (too sweet) and vanilla flavor, like it was artificially flavored or something. My husband also started getting headaches from it. We finally noticed the color change with the Trinidad version being darker, and also it was not nearly as smooth as the Guatemalan version. Lastly, it had a new "paraffin-ish" off-putting mouthfeel too. We stopped drinking it and then went on an exhaustive search for our beloved original Guatemalan Zaya, but everyone else who also knew about the switch had already bought out all remaining stocks; everywhere!. As luck would have it, we just happened to find a bottle of the original Zaya at a total dive liquor store. It was sitting way back on the self in it's own location without anything else around, almost like it was going to be discarded; and it had accumulated a copious amount of dust from sitting there so long. We immediately snatched it up and quickly took it home to enjoy! That was the last time we had our beloved Guatemalan Zaya...and we relished every sip! It was oh so good...We really wish Zaya would somehow be reproduced to its original glory from Guatemala.

Not sure why they felt the need to "fix" something that used to work very well.
I would not drink this if it was given to me except that it must be much cheaper to make.
Gone is the rich, warm flavor and finish. Replaced by an absolutely vile tasting finish!!!

This used to be my all-time favorite sipping rum, and indeed one of my favorite spirits of any kind to drink neat.
I just picked up a bottle in the "new" packaging (different bottle, screwtop, no woven neck ring). See attached image: old packaging is on the left.

The "new" ZGR is simply awful.

Either they radically changed the blend or a terribly bad batch got out.
Shame on Zaya for screwing up what had been a world-class rum!

Zaya Gran Reserv recently changed in many aspects - Packaging, and mix. It went from a really enjoyable experience and is now a nasty tasting cheap bottle of rum.

The way I can tell the difference is the packaging - if the bottle has the real weaving, and a cork - that is the good stuff. If the bottle is a screw top with printed weaving - do not waste your money!

This rum has become disgustingly sweet. I'm offended this is even still able to be called rum instead of a ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail. I have no idea how long the rum is aged in this mess, but if it's much longer than a year it's a big waste as all the sweetness being added to it completely overwhelms anything positive. Wish they would take this off the market rather than continue to give rum the overly sweet reputation it's still fighting to overcome!

Zaya Gran Reserva may be the best rum Trinidad has on offer. Very rich and quite heavy on the vanilla, this rum has superb complexity of flavor in the nose and on the palette. Perhaps best finish of any rum I've tasted (including Ron Zacapa 23 Solera). Here in New York, the price point makes it an incredible value.

I was looking for a decent rum and this was recommended by a friend. Nose vanilla, taste sugary vanilla, finish vanilla extract. Maybe mixed with coke or ginger beer it is palatable.

Can't go wrong with this one, offers a nice balance between smooth, sweet and complexity.