Santa Teresa 1796

Way back in 1991, my rum world consisted of Bacardi Anejo, Myers Dark, and any unflavored rums by Cruzan. Our cruise ship stopped for one day in Venezuela and I picked up my first bottle of Venezuelan Rum called Selecto Gran Reserva. Wow! It was by far the smoothest rum that I had ever tasted at that time, so I savored that only bottle for several months, knowing that I may never have a chance to find another one. I wisely saved the empty bottle. I recently read the very fine print on the side label which said Santa Teresa. A-ha!

These rums are somewhat available locally. They still make the Selecto, but only this 1796 Ron Antigua de Solera is available where I live, so I finally bought that long awaited second bottle. This one is also rated better on this site than the Selecto. At $46, it is now one of the most expensive bottle of rum that I have ever tried. My rum bucks now stop at $50!

The nose is of vanilla and cinnamon with a mouth feel adding caramel and oak. Yes, it is as smooth as I remembered with absolutely no bite from the alcohol. But compared to the ones that I have tried in recent years, this one is just not nearly as memorable. I am glad that I bought that bottle of Selecto some 26 years ago because it opened up my world to Venezuelan rums, as well as those from neighboring Guyana. I will also savor this bottle of 1796 with one pour over an ice cube each time. It is too expensive to waste as a mixer and would really do nothing to enhance any mixed drink. After opening the bottle, it improves even more.

Update after four months: About 2/3 of this bottle still remains after four months since I have been savoring it slowly. However, since it has been a while since I gave it another try, this evening cost it one point in my rating. The sherry cask aging has finally reared it's ugly head. I hate rums aged in fortified wine casks, but this one was done with a very delicate touch to get my initial rating of 9. Now that it has had time to breathe in the bottle, the sherry cask aging becomes more obvious.

Update December 18, 2020: I have been buying this really good rum for years, but today I opened another bottle to the smell of furniture polish. The taste was also mildly of furniture polish. I obviously got a bad bottle with no notation on the label to warn others what to avoid. This will sadly be my last bottle of this once proud rum. I will not lower my rating because my one bad episode should not be allowed to affect others.

Has a perfume bottle smell. Burns a lot and tatse like ethanol or medicine. Opens your nose, no full flavour or nice aftertaste

Excelente ron venezolano! Para cuando uno quiere ponerse meloso. Es un dulce.

Oh, this stuff is good. I mean, really. Smooth and yet dry after the finish so as not to be too much to catch what all is going on with it, which is nice. Simple good quality rum. A high-end mixer quality, with potential for sipping, for the right tastes.

Un ron sumamente interesante que entrega un cuerpo y aroma singular pero que distingue un a los buenos rones.

Was wary of the varied reviews for this one, put off buying it for ages. Just got home and opened my new purchase and can say I am very impressed with the smoothness of it. Has a wonderful smokey smell on uncorking, dark in the glass, a thicker rum for sure. I will say that the packaging and label is different to what is pictured, wonder if the newer batches are better. Recommended nonetheless (straight, no ice), should not hesitate to get one as I did...

This is one of my favorites. Without added sugar and colors, it has gentle spicy notes and wonderful aftertaste.

Dobre pitie, ale len dobre... je to skor bourbon typ rum. Podoba sa mi na Mount Gay Black Barrel.

Tento typ rumu mi az tak nepasuje. Mozno niekomu bude vyhovovat tazsia chut a menej sladky typ rumu.

Plus za tie peniaze by som cakal o dost lepsie pitie... rumov som vypil vela aj doma v zbierke mam min.10 rumov kt obmienam a doplnam ale tento si tam miesto nenajde...

Santa Teresa is an interesting rum. It’s a bit dry but has just enough sweetness so there’s no mistaking it for a whiskey. It leads with honey and butterscotch. There is just enough oak but it doesn’t overpower. It’s got fruit notes (apricots???). It’s also super smooth. This goes to the top shelf. I’m able to find it for under $40 as well. I’d prefer Santa Teresa 1796 to many rums costing over $75.

I enjoyed this but have so far only had two glasses so the score may go up - I doubt it will go down.

I found it the sort of flavour profile I enjoy. The nearest I'd had to it so far is maybe Doorly's XO - but this is sweeter, less oaky, more caramelly, a bit more sophisticated and deep and has a bit less kick. There is a little burn on it, but not much. It's smoothish, but I'd describe it as slightly smooth rather than smothered as such. Smoothness isn't always a good thing, I know and I do enjoy rums with a big kick too.
There's a fair bit of molasses in this, gentle oak, maybe a bit of raisin and sherry. It has a lovely colour and smell.
My problem with it would be the price - £40 is a lot and I would not say it was not as good as Plantation XO, which is a little more; and the above mentioned Doorlys XO, whilst different, is not that far off at about £5 or more less.