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Bacardi Gran Reserva 8-Year rum

Bacardi Gran Reserva 8-Year

United States | Aged | 40% ABV

5.9/10
82 ratings
Easily consumable in a bind
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82 Bacardi Gran Reserva 8-Year Ratings

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Paul B 🇺🇸 | 472 ratings
Posted 6 years ago

The only Bacardi Rum that I used to drink was the Anejo, which was about 20 years ago, until I found better rums in other brands. Everyone likes to berate Bacardi, which is so easy to do, but I went searching through these reviews to see if I could find their top of the line rum without having to take the expensive distillery tour and pouring one's own bottle. This one fit the bill at an affordable price.

I happened to pick up a bottle of this for about $28 on the way to an out of town concert. It was in one of those fancy canisters usually found for single malt scotches. When I got to the counter, the clerk praised me for choosing "top shelf". Then I went online to search for the difference between bottles labeled as "Gran Reserva" like mine as opposed to those bottles of a slightly different shape without that phrase. I could not find much at all other than Gran Reserva is from the Bahamas and the other version may be from Puerto Rico or the Bahamas. Yes, it's just like Bacardi to keep the drinking public confused.

Since my goal is to add to my collection of neat sippers, this was one of my first tastes. I was unimpressed to say the least. It has a strange smell and a rather bitter aftertaste. Compared to my ultimate favorite of Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva (and for only $7 more), this Bacardi 8 is left behind in the dirt. Adding a few drops of water did not help. Adding ice cubes did not help. If this is what dry rums taste like, then I want no more. I did not even bother to waste lime juice and simple syrup as mixers because this won't even cut it as a mixer rum. There are many other better mixers than this one and they are also cheaper. I have basically fallen for Bacardi's marketing schemes. So go ahead and berate Bacardi because they have earned those low ratings.

As for the empty bottle being used to store complex pre-mixed Tiki drinks, others such as Papas Pilar and Pyrat XO work better and you also don't have to keep looking at the Bacardi bat every time you open it up.

There are only a few other rums that I found to be worse than this one and none are from Bacardi. When a rum collector takes risks, eventually they wind up with some horrible stuff that is even worse than Bacardi or Captain Morgan. I will not lower myself by adding ratings from those crappy rums just to boost up my number of reviews. After all, this site is here to help us all into avoiding buying such crap in the first place. This site has saved me lots of money in my experimenting with rums that fit my flavor profile. For less than three grand, I now have a damn fine rum collection with very few failures after only 8 weeks.

Mark 🇨🇦 | 11 ratings
Posted 6 years ago

I think the "bat device" took a massive guano in this barrel.... every year for 8 years. Serious gut rot. Serious water trots.

rhumjesus 🇨🇦 | 31 ratings
Posted over 5 years ago

What a mistake this one was! I thought possibly Bacardi could make a good product if it was aged long enough... Wrong! this still taste like low tier shitty old standard bacardi gold! Don't waste your money on this.. Hangover waiting to happen, and adds nothing to a mix drinks flavor profile other than nastiness.

Pierre 🇨🇦 | 86 ratings
Posted almost 6 years ago

I’ve had worst Bacardi rum. I was expecting more from this one. Still not a very good rum. I come to the conclusion that Bacardi rums are not for me.

Wolfe Tone 🇳🇱 | 124 ratings
Posted 2 years ago

Another sweet, flat and uninspiring bottle from the boys at Bacardi. More expensive than the reserva or gold, but just as bad.

Wahlman 🇸🇪 | 52 ratings
Posted over 2 years ago

It tastes like you anticipates when you buy a bacardi but nothing special.

SkinnyRumPilot 🇭🇺 | 5 ratings
Posted over 5 years ago

- Please take my review as a particular issue, I do not want to generalize. - I've bought this bottle of Bacardi with very high hopes, but I had to face my biggest disappointment in rums so far. The price is average for an 8 year old rum, maybe even a little less. The bottle looks especially appealing, classy, creates the impression of quality in the buyer. But let's check what's in it. After opening, I have to say, I encountered with the strangest smell of rum ever. It smelled totally like plastic, mixed with a bit of alcohol. Similar to when you buy new shoes with that stinky rubber sole... I tried to taste it, but this chemical scent was unfortunately present in the flavor as well. After taking another look at the bottle that's when I realized what has happened. It has a plastic corking - and the bottle I assume must have been stored somewhere for ages - and this plastic got interacted with the alcohol somehow, and started to release the penetrating chemical smell. Tasting was over. I've poured the rum into a clean scentless glass bottle and leave it for a while, just to give it another chance. Two weeks later, the smell improved a bit but the taste is still awful. So I decided to contact Bacardi about this, I'll try to update my review after receiving their reply. I wonder if this issue with the 'cork' affects all their product range, and whether some fellow rum fans had the same issue.

Rob 🇺🇸 | 2 ratings
Posted almost 6 years ago

So, take this with a lot of salt, as this is my first rum review.
I gotta say, having drank Bacardi all my life (with coke) this was a major disappointment. I tried this neat, to experience all the flavors, and couldn’t discern anything good. There was just bitterness. I couldn’t finish the shot, dumped a bit of coke in it, and still tasted paint thinner. I preceded it with another rum neat, so I know I can enjoy rum, just this isn’t one to do it with.

Ron (Rum) 🇨🇦 | 4 ratings
Posted 6 years ago

Well now, I expected a bit more from an 8 year rum particularly when the 12 - year Eldorado was priced a good 8 dollars less and was a much fuller, smoother taste. Not my favorite by any means. Is this a blended rum?

Christoph 🇦🇹 | 5 ratings
Posted 7 years ago

I think the difference is that this one is from the Bahamas, while all the others are from Puerto Rico.
A little bit smokey and not too sweet. The taste itself is quite average.

xTarot 🇺🇸 | 14 ratings
Posted 2 months ago

This is my go to option for a rum old fashioned. This, a splash of coconut syrup, some grenadine, and a cherry. It's a solid choice for sipping as well. Don't let the rum snobs scare you off. This is a great aged option for the price!




Brand Details

Name: Gran Reserva 8-Year
Years Aged: 8
ABV: 40%
Type: Bacardi
Raw Material: Unknown
Process: Pure blend (1 distillery)
Distillation: Unknown
Women leading Rum: Yes

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