Ron Zacapa Royal

Sweeter than zacapa 23, but less sweet than zacapa xo. Complex aroma and taste begins with fruit notes (cherry?) and slight burn on finish similar to z23 but lighter. There’s a slight char/smoke to it as well.

Very nice high end bottle and label design. Dark mahogany color. in my opininion, is too overrated.

First of all: you need a Glencairn glas for tasting. The nose is much better in this glas.
In a rum tumbler it's not concentrated. And it needs 30min in the glas.
If you drink Zacapas take your time.

Tasted the Royal in comparison with 2019, Aniversario 30 and 2014 edition.
It tastes like the old zacapas. Intensiv, sweet and fruity, with wooden aromas.
It's not as good as the Aniversario 30. The 30 is more mature, more wooden and more fruity in the taste.
It's not as fresh as the XO. XO has a very nice balance between the matured and the young rums.
But Royal is more intensive and heavy.
It starts with caramel, burned sugar and dry fruits. The herbs are less present (same in Zacapa 30). The taste is not as heavy as 30 or Negra, but it's quite elegant. In the middle as it became warm I thought at some point, it's a little bit too sweet. From the sweetness I would say it's at the tip of the iceberg. Then I get some heavy flavours of the toasted hast (wood), but not as much as in the 30th.
I notice also a hint of cherries, this goes in another direction than other Zacapas.
The finish is not very spicy and sweet with caramel, barrel (wood) and dark fruits (not much herbs left).

A elegant and sweet Zacapa but too expensive for me.
2019 is more younger and also heavy, but has more mandarine in the taste. I think it's a good alternative. Buy the 2019 edition now, some years later it will be as expensive as royal I think.
Would rate it with 92 points.

Smell: caramel, herbs, sweet wood, dry fruits (raisins, plums, date), fig
Taste: caramel, burned sugar, herbs, sweet and toasted cask (wood), cherries, dry fruits (date), some, spice
Finish: long, sweet, caramel with barrel and dark fruits

Sweetness: 3.5/5
Fruits: 3/5
Spice: 2.5/5
Mildness: 4/5
Intensity: 3.5/5
Value (180€): 2/5
Experience level: professional

Aged: 8 to 30 years
Casks: Le Bois du Roy oak barrels

My favourite Zacapas Top 10 (I never tasted the old black label, Platino, straight from the cask and 2013, 2015 edition):
1. Aniversario 30
2. Royal
3. XO
4. Edicion Negra
5. Limitada 2019
6. Limitada 2014
7. Centenario 23
8. Ambar 12

Nothing special, .

It was the tastiest mildest Zacapa rum I have ever tasted

Rum distilled from molasses syrup, very dark. He aged in a thirty-year-old salt-cellar and was then finished in limo oak barrels. In the nose a lot of chocolate, cherries, cherry, bird cherry, raisins, prunes, pineapple, coffee, cocoa. The taste is a lot of sweetness - blackcurrant liqueur, cherries in chocolate, peach syrup. And skin, gently sherry. Creme de cassis in the finish plus yeast, cherry jelly, delicate as sherry, do not feel the power of alcohol.

Den här är riktigt god men inte så pass mycket godare än XO så att det motiverar det dyrare priset.

- ve vůni je okamžitě poznat typickou Zacapu, nasládlá, čokoláda, kokos, citrusy a dřevo
- chuť nasládlá, 45% je znát, ostřejší, závěr dřevitější, jemně nahořklý a částečně čokoládový

A total and complete rhum. Extra-dark colour and a sweet, balanced taste

Good but nothing special, is too similar to XO, not complex, lightness in deep. For delicate palates