El Dorado Special Reserve 15-Year

I have waited a long time for the 15 year old El Dorado rum to be available in Michigan. This batch is the best rum I have ever tasted. Hands down! Powerful flavor, sweet rum nectar, smooth with a tiny bite but a good bite to let you know that you are drinking a great rum that has gusto. Bravo!!

This is what I serve first to friends who haven't experienced 'good rum.' It sets a high bar and rarely fails to please. Many will find it slightly on the sweet side, but not as much as, say Diplomatico. The flavor is highly complex and alluring.

From a value point of view, at about $40 USD/bottle, I don't think you can do better. Focusing on the El Dorado line, the slightly less expensive 12 year bottle isn't as good as the even-less expensive 8year, so it's skippable. The more expensive 21-year bottle is noticeably smoother but questionably more enjoyable to drink. My cabinet always includes a bottle of ED8 for 'everyday' rum, 15 for entertaining, and EHP for special occasions.

The is no best rum in the world.... just a handfull of rums that are better than all the rest... Eldorado 15 year old is definitely in the world's best 10

This is another one i would reserve to be drank by itself

This is the rum against which all others are judged. The taste is a perfect balance of sweetness to tannic barrel flavors, creating a complexity not found in other backsweetened runs. Not as cloying as Diplomatico. Flavors present consist of vanilla, tea, burnt caramel, espresso, dried fruits with slight citrus zest at a short, clean finish. Drink neat with no water or mixers!

One of the best rums I've tried, it could be the benchmark for others. Really easy to say good things about it and not do it justice. If you see it try it, it's an excellent choice.

Found the 15 yr after a lot of searching and was, at first, impressed but not blown away. This has changed with each new tasting. Quickly this rum has surpassed all others for its smoothness and flavor. Yet to try the 12 or 21 yr but this is a truly impressive rum

I've just received a mini bottle of this rum from RumRatings, so that I had the chance of tasting it: I liked it indeed :) !

The colour is a copper red gold.
The aroma has notes of caramel and banana. There are some notes of wood also but fairly discreet.
Oak flavors are predominant on the palate but the rum remain sweet and very pleasant.
Edit April 25, 2014: Now that I've been able to compare this rum with its older brother 21 yo, I can say that this rum is my favorite one. Note raised to 10.

...at least in my opinion. I gave the 12 year a 9 out of 10 only because I had not tried the 15 year special reserve yet and man I was right. This one gets the full 10 out of 10 in my book. This rum is more mellow than the 12 year. A little less sweet however the flavors in this rum is more pronounced. You can really taste the hints of vanilla, almonds, oaky and fruits. This rum will coat your tongue like silk and does not give you any burn. Simply amazing to drink neat, on the rocks, simple coke an rum or other mixed drinks.

However I will say. This is a really fine rum. I would rather use the El Dorado 8 year or maybe 12 year for mixing. Leave this one for special settings and drinking neat or on the rocks.

Up until now this rum is the best rum I've ever tasted! It is the best value for the money!

This is the rum I compare all the others to. Full bodied, tropical fruits, a little smokey, not to sweet.
A great sipping rum that doesn't need any ice or soft drink.

This IS Rum, or even THE Rum... First smooth and sweet, followed by a nice and complex taste.
After the first sip i was in love and decided to keep this Rum in stock.
For the price a great buy.

this is simply one of the best things ever to slide down my throat. Sweet and a a little spicy. Brown sugary goodness and slightly smokey. They would tell you that it's a mortal sin to ever mix this but a Luka's Grog at ¥4000; well I guess I'm southbound

Ma note de 10 tient compte du rapport qualité/prix de ce rhum.
En effet ce n'est sans doute pas le meilleur rhum du monde mais dans cette gamme de prix je n'ai pas trouvé de meilleur concurrent. Son équilibre est parfait si bien que j'en ai fait mon allday.

I really don't care about the colour. I could drink it straight in the dark and it would still be amazing. I have sailed all over the world and tried different rums in 79 countries, and never have I found anything comparable to ED 15. It is a smooth, mellow drink with a great finish. I'm not much of a rum expert as far as identifying flavour nuances, but I do know what pleases me and this is it. I personally keep it in my freezer and drink it straight in a chilled glass. No ice.

Very smooth sipping rum. I enjoy it on the rocks and sometimes with a splash of Pepsi.

Sweet, full of taste, dark amber colour, weak in smell

This will be my first 10 rated rum. It may not be perfection, but will do until something better comes along. Nose has rich Porto, caramel and ginger notes in the background. The flavor is all that plus sweet maple sugar and a long warm finish. Tasted at a restaurant on a business trip and now can’t wait to buy some for my collection.

I keep trying different rums but I keep going back to this one. At $50 a bottle it's a hard one to beat. It has lots of different notes but what stands out the most is how smooth it is. Impossible for this to disappoint period!

This, my friends, is Rum. Not fussy, not overworked, just delicious. I take it neat.

Very nice sippng Rum at a reasonable price

Drier than 12 and slightly less flavor, but still one of the best sippers out there. A bit pricey only when compared to other ED products, but much better value than Zacapa or Mount Gay.

A great rum - the barmaid where I get has it spot on and refuses to serve you mixer with it.