Ron Esclavo XO Cask

What can I say. I put QRM 30 on the top shelf as my all time favorite, but I think I have to put another one right next to it. The Esclavo XO Cast is pure magic. It literally explodes in your mouth. Distilled by Oliver y Oliver and marketed by Danish based 1423 you can clearly find similarities with QRM as it is very sweet, very rich in both nose and body. But this one attacks all your senses with it's high, but not intrusive alcohol level, rich in butterscotch, dates, sugar cane and it's slightly smoky flavor. The high alcohol rate gives it a certain sharp licorice touch to it. It's INTENSE! The only gripe would be that after tasting this everything, literary everything, taste bland. So don't start with this when you're testing other rums. Finish with it!
It really feels exclusive with the numbering and it won't break the bank for you. A new favorite!

The color is dark, The taste is thick. The finish hit you like a sledge. If morse rums where like this i would be a happy puppy.

Man fornemmer slet ikke at den er på 65%, den virker blød og rund i munden og pga. styrken holder smagen længe.
Der er noter af karamel, honning, vanilje og kanel.
Virkelig en rom der skal have en plads i samlingen og pga. styrken er det jo ikke en man drikker flere gals af, den skal nydes ;-) og det bliver den. ;-)

At the first smell you get a knock from the alcohol. After a while the sticky alcohol fades a bit and you can sense beautiful sweet aromas.

In mouth you will first get a kick from the alcohol but almost immediately you can taste vanilla, caramel and some spice. The 65 % alcohol makes this rum different in a good way. It almost vaporize in mouth. A very nice experience.

The aftertaste is very long and sweet.

This is one of the all time great rums I've ever tried. Purchased from Vinoble Skanderborg (Denmark), batch #5.

I thought I'd love this rum, as I rated the Esclavo XO a perfect 10. This one is even better (great rums taste better stronger). I like this even more than the Tres Hombres Captain's Choice rums, which are also quite amazing.

In fact, as of 300 reviews, I'd rate this as my #3 rum of all time (after the Centenario Real (#1) and the Centenario XX (#2)).

Very nicely sweet. Smells and tastes of caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon spice. Simply a beautiful rum. And a pretty good value at only ~$70 (500ml). I hope I can find more!!!

All I can say is wow, what an amazing rum. Truly a masterpiece! After well over 1,900 aged rums later, what an amazing find and what a big surprise. Ron Esclavo XO Cask Strength comes from the Oliver & Oliver group, so that does not surprise me a bit since most of their rums are simply stunning. The Ron Esclavo XO Cask Strength comes in a black clay bottle, handwritten label, it has a very deep color, surprisingly strong alcohol to the nose from being 130 Proof. Cask Strength differs greatly from the Esclavo XO in a sense that Cask Strength is all about chocolate whereas XO is all about coffee. The Cask Strength does not have any burn at all at the end which is very surprising taking into consideration its 130 Proof. This rum goes directly to my top 2 spot after well over 1,000 rums later. Stunning. Masterpiece.

Detailed scoring analysis:
10/100 Packaging, bottle and label design 10
10/100 Color of this rum 10
15/100 Nose test 15
20/100 Palate test 20
15/100 Afterburn of this rum 14
15/100 Availability to purchase this rum 11
15/100 Ultimate value for money 15
Total score 95

This is a really strong and sweet rum with a big body and long finnish. Really good!

It's an explosion of sweet flavours in the mouth that lingers for ever. The only downside is the sharp hellfire burn on your tounge :-P

This one has a great aroma and the taste is even better. Even though it's a strong rum the alcohol taste doesn't take over as I expected it to do, instead there's an explosion of of different flavors that makes it very enjoyable. The aftertaste lasts several minutes afterwards.

Testé au RhumFest Paris , vraiment très fort à la première gorgée mais la suite est une explosion de saveurs ! ! !

You will smell mainly alcohol due to 65% of content. But in alcohol is dissolved everything good and it is not diluted. After drinking a small sip or just few drops you will not guess 65%. I have drinked just one bottle, so i have tried only one batch but I hope that every batch is little bit different :-) Taste is extremely complex, smooth and strong with long and pleasant tail. You can feel everything you like in rum, but in this complex taste is hard for me differentiate anything dominant. Tail is long with strong flavor.
And price performance ratio is great also ;-)

Couldn't decide whether it should be a 9 or a 10, because I gave the original XO a 9. But I ended up with a toprate, because I'm surprised every time, that it's so smooth, soft and tasty even though it's 65 %. Absolutely brilliant. Worth every cent.

Reading reviews I had built up in my mind how this might taste, and at the time when I started drinking Rum it was the best tasting (sweet) rum I'd tried. The bottle is boring and black with a white label. It is only 50cl.
The alcohol/sugar explodes in your mouth and the resultant aftermath tastes like I used to imagine a perfect sweet rum should taste. After a few months I could say maybe a little too much clove/five-spice.
There's also no depth, it's always wham, sweetness.
After a few months of drinking Velier, Foursquare and Agricoles I tried to go back to it. It wasn't enjoyable as a rum and it wasn't even worth keeping for cooking. Dumped down the sink.

A great rum. One of the best rum I have drank. Very special. A little bit to sweet, sugar added.

This could chock anyone! strong that it helpes to let it brief before, But to be so strong really goo!

This drink is STRONG... And I am not a fan of those kind of strong things, the taste (in my humble opinion) are slightly warped with such a high procentage... But here it kind of works...

Duft: lækker sød duft. vanilie, røget, blomme, kandis og en lille smule sprit.
Smag: sød og lidt røget i smagen. Karamel og blomme. God lang sød eftersmag

elements of brown sugar, vanilla, nougat, dried fruit, arrack and almond.

Jösses vilken god rom! Det bränner till av styrkan men inte så mycket som man kan tro. Den är värd varje krona.

Schönes leuchtendes Mahagoni im Glas.
In der Nase, duftendes Karamell, frisch aufgebrochene Kakaobohnen, getoastetes Holz.....
Im Gaumen trotz 65% sehr elegant und weich. Karamell übernimmt die Führung gefolgt von Toffee, Kakao, Vanille und Holznoten.
Im Abgang wunderbar lang, Karamell und Schokolade sind die Protagonisten.
Ein leckerer O&O, die Fassstärke bricht die Süsse. Für Geniesser und Entdecker der Fassstarken Rum.

Beautiful shining mahogany in the glass.
In the nose, fragrant caramel, freshly broken cocoa beans, toasted wood .....
Very elegant and soft on the palate despite 65%. Caramel takes the lead followed by toffee, cocoa, vanilla and wood notes.
In the finish wonderfully long, caramel and chocolate are the protagonists.
A delicious O&O, the barrel strength breaks the sweetness. For connoisseurs and discoverers of rum with cask strength.

65% of alcohol and still nice and sweet flavours. Great

Whoa! Super sweet, super sharp, the alcohol makes the sweetness seek in to every crevis of the mouth. Awesome!

Full bodied, sharp smell, incredible explosion of taste in your mouth. Sip slowly as 65% is really something. Looooong warm finish.

Epic, tasty, spicy, amazing, juicy, flavorful and most importantly very well priced. Definitely a strong 10.