Zafra Master Reserve 21

A blend of rums from Panama prepared by the famous Master Ronero "Don Pancho" Fernandez. The blend was aged in oak bourbon barrels for 21 years and diluted to 40% ABV at bottling.

Bottle: Narrow and long, delivered bare or in a carton
Colour: Dark Amber

Nose: Strong, penetrating and pleasant. I smelled vanilla, caramel, candied apricots, raisins, clove, ripe banana and a little oak, but not very intense.
Mouth: Lightly sweet with hints of oak (the longer ageing was noticeable here), caramel and vanilla. Also dried fruits (apricots, pineapple) and spices (cloves and pepper) have been rocognized.
Aftertaste: Medium-long

Conclusion: An excellent rum with a pleasant fruity and vanilla sweetness as well as a subtle woodiness. Surely recommended.
Rating: 9/10

This is an excellent, top-shelf rum! Excellent for sipping neat or mixed if you need to mix.

Good rum, enjoyable. One I always keep on hand in the cabinet. Probably my favorite.

Picked this one up not knowing much about it and really like it. Have been drinking it neat and as a choice for a rum old fashioned.

This is my go to rum. A single ice cube and this is sweet, smooth, and truly the most enjoyable rum I’ve experienced so far.

Na nose i v chuti znatelný bourbon. Velký elegán mezi sladšími rumy.

A nice rum, someone else here described it good, where sweet rum drinkers start mellowing out a bit. It is still quite a sweet rum, with lots of caramel, vanilla, brown sugar, raisins and some light chocolate, but also has some oak to it. Good flavours and well balanced.

If I had to pick one favorite rum to drink for all times this would be it. Super smooth and nice flavors.

This is definitely tasty and I appreciate the bourbon-like caramel nose, but not much happens on the finish other than a sustained sweetness with little evidence this has spent 21 years in a barrel. It's solid, but I expected more.

Only giving this a 7. It's decent, but for 21 years old? I guess I expected a lot more, especially given the hype. There are a lot of rums less than this one, even half this price, that I like a lot better. It opens up with time and has a decent flavor overall, right level of sweetness (for me), interesting - but lacked overall complexity. Nice thing, not overly woody. For the price, I won't be buying it again. I'm bummed out about it! I don't know that I'd ever splurge on the 30-year one now.