El Dorado 15 (Onwards 2020) 15-Year

This is hands-down my favorite sipper the past couple of years, and for an over-the-top rum old fashion. Love the complexity, feel, taste. Dark, rich, caramel-like without being sweet. Smooth - despite the alcohol content. Loads or complex aromas and long finish of vanilla and maybe cinnamon.

Nothing else to add. Really good for both sipping and mixing

Smooth and very little burn going down. Hints of molasses and vanilla. A solid sipper neat or on ice.

My favorite rum for the price. Should be able to find it in the $50 range and this rum should be rated much higher than 8.1. This is the rum I get my whisky friends to sample and they are always amazed at the taste and price point.

Perfect level of the spices and aroma. Loved it from first sip

El Dorado 15yo je blendem rumů z několika destilačních zařízení: Enmore, Diamond a dřevěných Port Mourant a Versailles. Zraje min. 15 let v dubových sudech po bourbonu.

Aroma: Tropické ovoce (výrazné pomeranče), banány, čokoláda, opálené dřevo, leštěnka na nábytek. Snad i stopa slanosti.
Chuť: Na vteřinu sladkost, poté však nastupuje hutně hořké kakao, dřevo, hřebíček a pepř. Krásně jemná a plná chuť.
Dozvuk: Opálené dřevo, mírná zemitost mísící se s ovocem a hořkým kakaem. Střední.
Sladkost: 0/3
Ochutnán vzorek
Čekal jsem ultraslaďouše (jako 12yo), ale byl jsem velmi příjemně překvapen nulovou sladkostí a neskutečnou komplexitou. Po ochutnávce jsem zjistil, že se jedná o "nové plnění"; krásná ukázka toho, jak hezky rum vynikne, když není umučen cukrem. Za tu cenu velká paráda!

This rum knocks it out of the park. No added sugar! Absolutely a true rum. When I first tried the 15yr old I kind of liked it because it was sweet. Then, as I got my sea legs I found that adding sugar is, in my opinion, a mask. But the industry sells well with added sugar so I guess they thought, OK everyone else is doing it so let's see where this takes us. Well, after the EU put guidelines down they had no choice but to abort. Great choice because this rum doesn't need any sugar support. Nice move Matey! Now you have a chance to regain the throne! At the price ($48) this is a steal in my opinion.

El Dorado 15yr Special Reserve is an absolute stand out. It’s the one for which all others are compared. The nose gives a complex spiced molasses with a caramel sweetness - and plenty of cinnamon.
The mouth feel is thick and mouth watering. There’s an Initial sweetness which develops into the spicey sweetness. There’s a hint of over ripe oranges . .
The finish is quite long with lingering dry spices and a touch of Liquorice. / dark chocolate.

Much better than the original! The taste is kinda same but without the over the top sweetness. My new favourite!

So at first glance this is a revisitation of an old classic. However, it is in fact a new review of a new rum. That’s because in 2020 El Dorado decided to revamp their entire lineup and, to the near universal delight of the rum community, they decided remove or severely limit the amount of added sugar they used to add to their bottlings. In the case of this rum, it contains 0gpL of added sugar.

This is a pure Demerera rum distilled on DDLs column still and then tropically aged for 15 years in ex-bourbon casks. Unlike the previous iteration, this newer bottling contains no added sugar. So now the million dollar question: how does it compare to the previous sugar-added iteration?

Taking a whiff from the Glencairn I get absolutely smacked in the nose by Raisins, Brown Sugar, and rich Pipe tobacco. Further nosing reveals Candied Figs, Prunes, and faint Modelers Glue. The nose, while not overly complex, is deep, rich, and inviting.

To my delightful surprise the palate matches the nose exactly, deep rich flavors of Raisins, Brown Sugar, faint Pipe Tobacco, Candied Figs, and Prunes. But in an interesting twist in addition to all the rich earthy notes present on the nose, the palate also includes a wonderful rich Toffee note. This is quite delightful.

The finish is long, rich, and more of the same: ages of Raisins, Candied Figs, Prunes, and Brown Sugar - but here with a touch of butter.

I have no idea how they did it, but this is even better than the previous added sugar version. The most likely scenario is that El Dorado was simply changing with their market and realizing that the rum community is trending towards purity rather than sweetness. But what I find with this rum, (and maybe what they also realized), is that their rum is just absolutely fantastic all by its own. No sugar is needed. In fact, now having had both, and even though I enjoyed the previous iteration, this new pure version is FAR superior in every way. It is richer, earthier, fruitier, and fuller than it was.

Frankly, I am stunned. I had anticipated the richness and fullness of the dried fruit notes to drop without the added sweetness…but the opposite in fact occurred! It seems the added sweetness was actually holding this rum back. Call me impressed. I was not expecting that.

This is the best commercially available aged Demerara that I have enjoyed by some margin. Well done DDL! Take pride in your rum - No added sugar needed

Short Description: Deep rich dried fruits, Brown Sugar, and Pipe tobacco. Everything you are looking for in an aged Demerara.

ABV 43%

Country of Origin: Guyana

Distillery: Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL)

Nose: Raisins, Brown Sugar, Pipe Tobacco, Candied Figs, Prunes, faint Modelers Glue

Palate: Raisins, Brown Sugar, faint Pipe Tobacco, Toffee, Candied Figs, Prunes

Finish: (long) Candied Figs, Prunes, Raisins, Brown Sugar and Butter