Diplomatico Ambassador Selection

I went searching for another bottle or two of Foursquare ECS Shibboleth this afternoon. Since the two liquor stores that are well stocked and never show what rums they have on hand, this would increase my chances of finding a bottle just by happening to pop in. Well, no Shibboleth, but they had a Redoutable for only $113. I almost bought that one. Then out of the corner of my eye, this long coveted rum was peaking from a hidden corner behind the locked glass case. I asked the clerk if it was what I thought and he went to get the key. Yes it was Diplomatico Ambassador, which I had been wanting for at least two years. My choice was now a no brainer and this is now the most expensive rum that I ever bought at $231 US.. The Foursquare stayed on the shelf because I don't care for Madeira casking in my rums. A bottle of Hampden Estate Euphoria in a gift box also stayed behind the locked glass case for only $155 US.

Despite my initial rating of 9, it is not worth what I paid for it. The sherry notes absolutely dominate and there is very little burn despite the high ABV%. This will never become a collectible rum for two reasons. First, the price is too damn high in the first place. A hundred US dollars would be a steal. Second, it has about 24 gpl of added sugar. It is sweet, but not a sugar bomb like it's much more affordable cousin DRE.

My memory of this one being what is the most expensive pour at a popular tiki bar in Las Vegas also inspired me to just go for it. Except that I did not win the jackpot.

Update only one day later: This "rum" wound up being one of my fastest sinkers in my ratings, from a low 9 to a high 7. I rate the liquid that is in the bottle and not the bottle itself. I am now convinced that most of the high ratings on this one are biased from the very expensive and fancy bottle. Rather than admit like myself that they have all been ripped off, they choose to justify their waste of money by mentally masturbating over this gorgeous bottle along with their other fancy bottles in their collection.

My own "current group of rums" (note that I am not a collector) looks like a crazy quilt of bottles in all price ranges. They are similar to my vast music collection of more than 800 artists from 58 genres that would take me 68 days non-stop to listen to all of them. The same goes for my group of current rums. They are there to satisfy my needs for having whatever I want whenever I want. This grossly overpriced rum will get stuck into the back of my cabinet behind my half dozen bottles of mezcals.

I often criticize Foursquare. ECS rums as tasting too much like bourbon (except for their recent Shibboleth release). If I wanted a bourbon, I could save lots of money and buy a real bourbon. Well, the same goes for this Ambassador. If I wanted my rum to taste totally like sherry, then I could save a shit load of money and just buy sherry. You have been warned!

Honest as usual...

Update only 13 days after opening: This one has now slid down to my rating of 6. And it is now my all time worst purchase for a rum, even moving down below my former long standing worst buy of Goslings Family Reserve.

After note a year later: This rum was purchased one month before having to go through Hurricane Ida on August 29, 2021. At that time, about one third of this bottle had been consumed. To alleviate the stress of sweltering hot days after the storm with no power, several rums came in handy. This was one of them. It was then that I realized that this was one nasty ass rum thanks to way too much sherry aging. Most of the cost for this one went into the really fancy bottle. I slowly finished the bottle to get it out of my sight. Normally, this would garner my rating of 5, as my clue to never buy again. However, I chose to not lower the score for the sake of others who may wind up liking it.

And by all means keep this very fancy bottle to store much cheaper and better rums in for your guests. You paid heavily for this bottle, so it's yours.