Dictador Solera Distillery Icon Reserve 20-Year

This Dictador is priced at about halfway between Dictador 12 and Dictador XO Insolent. So I needed to find out if it is worth the extra money over the 12 and is it almost as good as the XO Insolent? The answer to both questions is "YES!!!". The flavors are much more pronounced than the 12 and comparing side by side almost makes the 12 seem like a bourbon. Since this company also sells coffee and stores the beans in the barrels used to age these rums, coffee dominates the taste. You will either love these rums or hate them. I happen to love them. Great taste with no added sugars.

Since this is the second most expensive rum that I have ever purchased ($65), I consider it and it's older brother XO Insolent at $96 to be reserved for special occasions. I am glad that I bought a whole bottle to test side by side against the 12 rather than try one ounce at a bar and rely on my memory of what the 12 tasted like. These two are not even close in comparison to taste.

After only 5 days of opening this bottle and comparing it to my other highly rated rums, I have no choice except to raise my initial rating from a 9 to a 10! However, if you hate coffee, you will disagree with me on this one. This one for me is a $65 bottle of perfection in a rum. I would not hesitate to buy this one again on a regular basis. Only 25% of the rums that I have rated here fall into this category of repeat purchases being justified.

Update August 10, 2019: I now find myself with all three of my favorites: Dictador 12, Dictador 20, and Dictador XO Insolent. Time for side by side comparisons neat. This one makes the Dictador 12 seem like Angostura 1919. which is a good thing, but still not up to the level of the finest Dictadors. This is still damn good rum worthy of my 10 rating, but it lacks the refined finish of the Dictador XO Insolent. If that finish is worth an extra $35 US per bottle to you, then go for it.

May 11, 2022: This is one very sad day for this rum lover. Both of their rums aged 12 and 20 years were finally released to my area in new bottles with no more solera indication. Normally, I would have no problem with that, but tasting the 12 year and 20 year side by side shows me no difference whatsoever. Since this is an outright deception, I have no choice except to lower this once all time favorite of mine down to a 7. Since I will never buy it again, this would normally have me rate it as a 5 or less. But it is still a decent rum despite now being a rip off, so I will keep my new rating as a 7.