Zaya Gran Reserva 12-Year

The Diplomatico was my first Rum many years ago ,and i love him until today.

Nose: sweet , caramel,vanilla smoke,fruit,nutty
Tase: sweet,caramel ,vanilly, fruity,nutty,smoke,oak

the Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva before 2012 was a little bit better .

So far, this is my absolute favorite rum. You don't need ice to mellow it out, it has almost no burn, but still full of flavor. I wouldn't dare put this in a cocktail or with coke, it would be a disgrace to do that. It is extremely smooth.

I've tried hundreds of rums, and have I've 75 different types in my cellar at home. I have 4 cases of this. It's that fantastic. Rich and creamy, heavy caramel and toffee, without being overwhelmed with hard oak. This is the epitome of rum, the gold standard by which all others are judged. Superb!

Diplomatico RE was my first sipping rum. Couldn't have chosen a better one to start with. Being new to the rum review game, I won't try to use fancy lingo like flavor notes, legs or complexity. I will just say that it smells and tastes like sweet deliciousness with a subtle burn. Drinking it neat is the way to go. Ice and water takes away from that creamy goodness and mixing hides that great flavor. I have graduated to less sweet rums but this will always stay in heavy rotation at my house. At around $35 USD (01/2016), this is a must have.

Wow, this is like sweet, rum-flavored pancake syrup. Based on the reviews here, I went out and bought a bottle ($40), and was hoping to discover a new favorite sipping rum. It never happened. From the first sip, I was like.."huh?" My background is, I have dietary restrictions and don't drink soda or eat a lot of candy (sugar) or sugary drinks or food, even. So maybe my tolerance for sugar is low, who knows. But this stuff is cloyingly sweet, the aftertaste is similar to that of having eaten hard candy. You can taste this sickly sweet residue in your mouth for long afterwards. Don't get me wrong, it's not "bad" rum, it's sweet and slightly pleasant, but for a rum purist, it's horrible. I can't believe I just blew $40 on this bottle of rum-flavored syrup. It also has a strong scent of vanilla, no doubt added. Like I said, it's not rum, it's a liqueur. It has a nice burn down the throat, but the sticky sweetness is horrible for me, and it makes me want to brush my teeth. Sorry guys, I'm voting against the grain on this one.

As tasty as this is, rating is down as it's not a rum - it's a liqueur:

Nose: Big caramel, toffee, butterscotch (you get the idea). Vanilla and dark fruits, maybe some orange skin. Tiny prickle of spice from the oak. The combination is not complex but it is certainly very hedonistic.

Palate: Big caramel, toffee, butterscotch. Vanilla and dark fruits......oh wait. Nose, taste and repeat. Very viscous and mouth-coating, actually quite cloying. Yep, it's a liqueur. Delicious though.

Finish: Actually surprisingly long, didn't expect that. Lashings of vanilla and a bit of oaky bitterness but I get the impression that the finish is just there because my mouth is still coated with the sticky rum and I'm still getting "palate" and not an actual "finish".

More here:

https://rumtastic.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/diplomatico-reserva-exclusiva-review/

Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva comes in a nice bottle and the rum is delivered in a nice tube (as in the picture).
The smell is very sweet with lots of caramel, cacao and vanilla.
In mouth this rum is very velvety with a small hint of spice at the end. The taste is full of vanilla, cacao and orange.
The finish is long, mild and sweet with a little bit of spice.
A sipper that also goes well as a blender. This one should be in every collection :)

Diplomatic RE is an excellent sipping rum. Sweet enough but not quite as much as Zaya . Buttery caramel flavor with the smoky burnt oak misting through. I can sip a good glass of rum for two hours. Add a twist of lime and try that with this rum. Let me know if after about 30 to 45 minutes you , you don't find the nose has evolved to a different rum. All in a good way. If it were not more expensive than Zaya, it would also be a 10 but I have to say 9.

I'll give a mention to this fellow that nailed the rum review:
https://rumtastic.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/diplomatico-reserva-exclusiva-review/

It's just too sweet for me. Rums by their nature will tend to have a sweeter note, but this is playing to a crowd that wants liquid candy in their mouth.

I'm currently experimenting with drier and spicier rums to mix it with in order to try and bring some semblance of balance.

A luxurious adventure of rich evolving tastes: molasses, chocolate, toffee, vanilla, orange, at a very reasonable price. Quite smooth and easy on the palate. I surprise devotees of high end bourbon and scotch with this sipping rum. Mmmm...