Another rum changed for the worse - Ron bermudez Aniversario 12 Anos

Maybe they "improved" it for the mass market with sugar, to make it milder. Could be the right decision to increase the sells. Of course not the right decision for pure rum drinkers, but it was always a rum for the mass market.It's from a multicolum distillation, far from great but also not bad. They sell the rum often as bulk ware therefore there is no advertising. I think Kirk&Sweeney could be made of Bermudez rum.

I though about Kirk & Sweeney when writing this, as it is another example of "improving" the blend. The K&S 12yo was already a commercial rum, but one that I personally found quite drinkable, The "improved" K&S 12 Reserva is now, IMO (of course a personal thing), undrinkable. And yes, absolutely, mass market is more important than "aficionado" - or those of us who like to think we are! :) - and these companies are in business to sell as much as possible rather than appeal to a niche market. There are other producers who do that - eg Foursquare As for Bermudez Aniversario 12yo, it was never the best rum in the world, so yes I have to agree with you that it was far from great. But working in the alcohol trade, I find that those spirits/wines which are far from great, often have a big appeal with their idiosyncrasies, which some might even call faults. Bermudez had that, but sugaring it up, just takes those idiosyncrasies away and adds it to the plethora of uninspiring rums. For 16€ I'm not expecting too much, just a shame in my eyes, that they've changed things.

It's a normal thing that things change time to time it calls the dynamic of the market. The rum market is growing, so the Distillers do everything to increase their production, but you cannot double the amount of a 12 yo rum in 6 years without a lack or loss of aromas. Unfortunately, things we love changes too. For my part, I don't really care, because I usually do not buy the same rum twice (except some mix rum like OFTD etc.) and I love single cask editions. In the last years quite a lot changed, Ron Esclavo for example they changes distiller and bottle layout, label looks much nicer, but the rum....(wrote separate topic). Same with Malteco, once distilled and stored in Guatemala, now in Panama, because Zacapa needs the whole capacity for their new line up. Sorry, don't cry a tear for cheap mass stuff. ;-) It's always sad if a rum is gone you loved. Go and hunt for old bottles, store it well and enjoy one by one on birthdays or x-mas.

Rene, I get the bit about not buying the same rum twice, but I'm slightly different. I have my cheaper or everyday house rums - this one, Sunset Cpt Bligh XO, Appleton 12yo, Doorly's 5yo etc etc - which I do buy repeatedly.