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Ron Zacapa XO Rum is produced in the highlands of Guatemala where it is distillled from fresh cane juice. The rum is then aged from 6 to 23 years at 7544 feet above sea level at 62 °F (17 °C) using the solera process. The solera aging process incorporates barrels that previously held American whiskeys, sherries, wines and Cognac
The unique Ron Zacapa XO glass decantur features an impression of a woven band around the middle, which is in reference to the original hand woven palm leaf petate bottle cover that covered the bottle
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Posted
8 years ago
Definitely something good happening here but I don't see this as the rum to compare all others too. It's kind of like a woman with an incredible body but acts like an asshole. I want to love it but can't.
The smell starts a little aggressive of alcohol and lingers a touch, but is followed by a sweet molasses aroma. Has a nice burnt sugar taste followed by a touch of banana leaf. It carries the burn for a bit longer than I would like. Zacapa XO has a cognac essence and heat. This bottle is for the aficionados who likes sweet with a bite. It's almost dry at the end while still being creamy. I will revisit you again in the future, but only because of those tits.
Posted
9 years ago
Extremely smooth sipping. Ordered this from a shop in New Jersey for $79.99 which was a deal.
Posted
9 years ago
Sugar: 26-30 gpl. I had some friends over for a rum tasting and everyone's eyes lit up when they smelled and tasted this one. Comment was that this one fills your nose mouth and sinuses with a wonderful rush of flavors. It's not available in Ontario, but I bought 2 at the Duty Free. Fellow Canucks if you find this rum, buy 2 of them. You might want to keep one as a present, but you might end up keeping it for yourself.
Posted
9 years ago
Very delicate like drinking a nectar from the Guatemalan God's.
Posted
over 8 years ago
Not really getting all that much for your money. Dense and cloying the 23 is better but that's not great either.
Posted
over 6 years ago
The Zacapa XO comes with a large black box and a beautiful bottle (image). On the inside of the box you can read about the Zacapa XO. Very stylish!
In the glass you find a dark coulor, a bit darker than the 23 year old Zacapa. At first it is som alcohol on the nose but if you let it rest in the glass for a few minutes the alcohol disappears and you find toffee, spice and vanilla. The aroma is very smooth and nice. I always let my rum rest for 1 minute per year old in the glass. Makes a big difference.
In the mouth the Zacapa XO is very smooth and sweet at first and after a while I get some spice and oak. All the flavors stays long in in the mouth. The flavor of spice and a little taste of cognac stays for a long time. Very smooth in the throat.
The Zacapa XO is a sipper that I enjoy neat. I think it is a top quality luxury rum but for me there are some better sippers that I have given 10/10.
Posted
almost 9 years ago
Autant j'ai été très déçu par le best seller Solera 23 de la même maison qui pour moi n'est pas à la hauteur de sa réputation, autant celui-ci est une toute autre histoire. Le sucre est bien mieux dosé et on retrouve une belle complexité entre la gourmandise et les épices. On est dans la veine d'un El Dorado 21 avec une exécution proche de la perfection. On lui reprochera peut être un léger manque de personnalité mais ça n'en reste pas moins une valeur sûre !
Posted
almost 7 years ago
Nice ron finished in Cognac barrels taste is good like strong Young man.
Posted
over 7 years ago
Zacapa XO, nebo celým názvem Ron Zacapa XO Solera Gran Reserva Especial, je směs rumů starých 6 až 25 let, zrající metodou solera. Nenechte si tedy od heuréky ani e-shopů namluvit, že se jedná o rum pětadvacetiletý. Konečné zrání probíhá v sudech po koňaku, předtím jsou použity sudy po bourbonu i po sherry Pedro Ximénez. Zraje v nadmořské výšce okolo 2200 metrů nad mořem. Jediný rozdíl mezi Zacapa 23 a Zacapa XO je tak v oněch dvou letech navíc v sudech po koňaku. A pak už jen v lepší prezentaci balení a více než dvojnásobné ceně. A vlastně ještě v malé drobnosti, v horší vůni i chuti...
Alkohol: 40 %
Původ: Guatemala
Aroma: Hutná, těžká, koženě-medově-dřevitě-mátová. Ale nemohu se zbavit dojmu, že aroma je uzavřené. Přímé srovnání se Zacapou 23 to potvrdilo. Postupně, jak si pohrávám s Glencairn sklenkou, tak se otevírá další vrstva vůně a nastupuje starý nábytek, kadidlo, sirup, trochu i sladkost smíchaná s hřebíčkem. (88 b)
Chuť: Hutný na jazyku, olejnatý. Ale je tak zvláštně jemný, na první napití nijak ohromující. Bohužel ani na druhé, ani na třetí napití, ani na dvacáté.Popisy chutě by byly podobné jako u aroma, snad ještě těžší dřeitost, čokoládová dřevitost a trochu borové pryskyřice navíc. Popsané složky vypadají snad lákavě, ale pro mě je chuť celkem zklamáním, to vůně na tom byla ještě znatelně lépe. (86 b)
Body: 87
Shrnutí: Poprvé jsem ho ochutnal na červnové akci s josém v Hořicích, využili jsme toho, že má josé doma otevřenou Zacapu 23 a udělali jsme i přímé srovnání. Zacapa 23 je bohatší na vůně i chutě, je oproti uzavřené, usedlé a těžké XO svěžejší a zajímavější. Stejné výsledky byly později i při porovnání s mým TOP rumem, Presidente Marti 23. Jen ještě s výrazněji horším vyzněním pro Zacapu XO. Asi není náhodou, že na červnové degustaci Zacapa XO skončila na posledním místě ochutnávky, za Plantation Belize X.O. Single Cask Pineau des Charentes Finish a British Navy Pusser's 15 yo Nelson's Blood. Říkal jsem si, že se nebudu unáhlovat a recenzi sepíšu až po dalších ochutnávkách, třeba jí na chuť přijdu časem. No, nestalo se, dojem je stále stejný. Za ty peníze je to opravdu velké zklamání, za 2000 korun bych si raději koupil tři lahve ročníkových Plantationů a udělal bych mnohem lépe. Ale samozřejmě jde jen o můj, čistě subjektivní dojem.
Posted
8 years ago
I didn't hesitate to give this a 10. The ONLY way to drink this is neat. The smoothness of this rum was like a Caribbean afternoon. Little bit of bite (I wouldn't call it burn) at the end made this my new, favorite rum. It accompanied my Partagas Series E No. 2. For a little over an hour I was absolutely in paradise sitting on the beach in Akumal enjoying both.
×
Not quite a 9
7
/10
out of 10
Since I did not have much luck at all with their Zacapa 23 Solera, I was hesitant to plunk down about $90 US on a bottle of this. I tried to sample one pour at a few rum bars, but they were all out. So I walked into one of my favorite liquor stores this morning and this black box just begged me to take it home. My curiosity can be quite costly at times.
My bottle is of the newer design as shown in the photo. When poured into the snifter, it is a reddish mahogany color. The inside of the black box mentioned all of the different casks that were used for aging, including red wine. It supposedly has 26 gpl of added sugar and it's viscosity in the glass shows. Rums of between 6 and 25 years were used in the blend. The aroma is like a fine perfume. Too many complex flavors meld together in harmony, but are dominated by caramel and wood.
The closest rum that I would compare it to is Plantation XO 20th Anniversary at slightly less than half the price. No surprise here, since both are partially aged in cognac casks. As expected, Ron Zacapa XO is a few shades darker than the Plantation XO. Both have complex flavors, but the Plantation is more of fruit while the Ron Zacapa is of wood. If you blindfolded someone to test them side by side, I doubt anyone could tell which one is more expensive. It looks like I won't be buying Ron Zacapa XO again, but I still rate it as a 8. It is just not worth another $90 from me.
I started out ranking this rum as my third overall favorite, right behind Dictador XO Insolent and Dictador 20. Therefore, it starts out with a rating no higher than a 9 (which wound up back down to an 8). However, since it is heavily sweetened, I expect the flavors to change in the bottle over the next few weeks. Blame Christmas Eve and finishing off this bottle after only two weeks to show me it's excessive woody weaknesses.
Update June 14, 2020: I know that I had stated that I would buy no more of this rum, but after finishing a major photo scanning project during the pandemic lock down, I rewarded myself with another bottle of this rum since lots of concert refunds paid for it. Guess what? It lasted all of 5 days! But due to it's fancy bottle and heavy sugar dosing, this really should be reserved for guests who do not know anything about rum. I am now ready to knock my rating down to a 7.