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Trinidad and Tobago | Aged | 40% ABV | Column Still (5+) Distilled
Zaya Gran Reserva Rum is a blend of molasses-based rums distilled in a five-column still and aged in white oak barrels for up to 12 years.
Zaya rum was initially distilled by Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala in Guatemala. The brand was acquired in 2008 by Infinium Spirits and is now produced in Trinidad and distilled by Angostura.
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Posted
11 years ago
Aromatic notes of vanilla, caramel, with hints of banana and cocoa.
The palate is an initial taste of vanilla, cocoa and brown sugar, with a medium-sweet bodied with hints of oak and orange spice.
Posted
almost 6 years ago
After reading a post on the discussion board about how Zaya has become undrinkable swill under new ownership, I finally opened a bottle I had picked up last year while on vacation at what I thought was a great price of $25.
i have to say I agree 100% with the guy who made that post. This stuff basically tastes like vanilla extract. I found an unopened bottle stashed in my cellar of the old stuff with real palm leaf wrap around the neck, and though it is a sugar bomb it at least tastes good. The new stuff either has a paper wrap around the neck or a metal screw top and collar. My newer bottle has the metal, but according to the guy who wrote the post the paper wrapped bottles are terrible too.
I have heard this rum was awesome back in the days it was from Guatemala, unfortunately that was before I got interested in rum. The garbage stuff says "a blend of 12 rums" in the little round label on the bottle instead of "aged 12 years" on the older bottles. Classic bait and switch, avoid the newer bottles. I wouldn't buy this again at any price.
Currently my favorite rum. It is a little sweet, with flavors of vanilla and caramel. Perfect for a dessert sipper. Do not waste as a mixer, drink this one neat. Great rum to share with friends after dinner. For $37 this is a steal.
Posted
9 years ago
Sugar: 20 gpl. Lot's of reviewers liked this rum, but I did not finish the bottle I purchased while on vacation. It's a smooth rum with a nice finish but the Vanilla aroma and flavor dominates it from start to finish. I tried it on ice and in mixed drinks but could not come to liking it enough to finish the bottle or to even think of adding it to my collection. I would not buy this rum as there are better rums in this price range.
Posted
over 9 years ago
This was a quite wonderful dram. The vanilla sweetness hit my taste buds first but didn't overpower a complex, bitter, chocolate nuttiness at all. Long and pleasant finish. Sip this neat and appreciate the craft!
A must have in your collection a golden to copper brown color nice vanilla scent nice barrel flavors with vanilla tones with a smooth finish.
Posted
10 years ago
Vanilla flavor is too dominant for my tastes. Very smooth and very little after burn. A pretty good sipper.
Posted
over 1 year ago
Bottle purchased in Crete several years ago. Iβm rating the old Zaya 12 year (note bottle neck in photo) before Diageo bought them and ruined this rum. Pours a very dark brown. Aroma of butterscotch and molasses. Mildly sulfur and sweet. Bananas and chocolate. Such a pleasantly mild palate with a pronounced vanilla. This was a great rum back in the day.
Well it has suffered some degradation with ownership making poor choices...
Posted
over 5 years ago
All reviews from before 2016 should be ignored - this is now a distinctly different and much lower quality rum than it was previously.
The original Zaya was the rum that got me into sipping rums. Every time I finished a bottle I would get a new one. It was fairly sweet with a taste of vanilla and caramel. If you can still find a bottle where the label has cursive writing on it and there's a wicker sleeve on the neck, buy it.
At first when the logo changed, I was skeptical. The font change on the label wasn't bad, but the sticker that used to proudly proclaim "Aged 12 Years" now read "Blend of 12 selected rums". The neck was no longer covered in wicker and the cork had been replaced with a screw off cap. The taste is *very* different. It still has flavors of vanilla and caramel, but they aren't as rich as they used to be. The rum doesn't taste aged at all, as the change from 12 years to 12 rums suggests. It's still good as a mixing rum, but I wouldn't suggest it for sipping.
×
One glass at a bar was enough
5
/10
out of 10
This was my third and final test of sipping rums as one shot neat for each from a well stocked bar. If you can separate yourself from the thought of what it used to be when it was distilled in Guatemala, you just may wind up enjoying it. On the other hand, the Guatemalan version must have rated as a 10 instead of a 7 here. Then again, maybe my first two stronger samples of different rums prior to that clouded my judgment.
The aroma is incredible and the taste is smooth and sweet with no burn on the tongue or throat. It has a very pleasant and unique artificial after taste which I cannot describe. It can be used as an affordable sipper at about $27 per bottle, but my shot ran me $9. I am on the fence about buying a whole bottle since I already have enough great rums in my collection. It is a decent rum, but not great. And believe me, I went searching all over some forgotten liquor stores for any remaining bottles from Guatemala with the straw on the neck and having a real cork. My shot was the version from Trinidad.
Update several weeks later: After researching how the parent conglomerate company has slowly degraded the quality of this rum since it was produced in Guatemala back in 2008, I won't be buying an entire bottle. The memory of some artificial taste in that one sample was enough to have me thinking that I would regret buying a whole bottle and having to finish it while paying a penalty each day after drinking it. Comparisons to Sailor Jerry have been made, how both start off deceptively appealing and then the next day it's "Gotcha!". That happened with my first and last bottle of Sailor Jerry. By the way, the bar where I had my glass of Zaya also has Sailor Jerry to sample because that is what the mostly hipster patrons want. I initially gave this Zaya a rating of 7 at best, but have now lowered it to a rating of 5 to match my empty bottle of Sailor Jerry. Any rum that I rate less than a 6 is one that I cannot wait to get rid of, either for bad taste or ill effects the next day.