Bacardi Reserva Ocho Sherry Cask Finish 8-Year

Sugar: Estimated at 14 GPL. I got this bottle in Ontario for $29 which is a bargain! It's got the standard profile of vanilla, oak, spice, and caramel, but this rum also has the taste of the sherry barrel it was aged in. Smooth and well balanced rum. No harshness to it at all and for the price it's got as much flavour as some more expensive rums. Really good on it's own over ice and a very smooth mixing rum.

This rum was better than I expected. The thing that surprised me the most was a nice licorice taste. Licorice is my jam.

Tasted 11/29/21 at Laka Lono, not long after a sip of Flora Cana 18 year - so that may not be fair to this poor tired ol rum. I'll also note that I have learned over the last 3 years that I just am not a friend to sherry cask-aged rums. So someone who loves a sherry cask finish might feel totally different than I do about this rum.
I tasted this in the form of a Daiquiri, aka SotoDax. Notes indicate I was concerned it might have been oxidized, it certainly tasted that way. Other notes: "this smells like an old sofa" and "I am uncomfortable supporting this rum."

It tastes exactly as the label implies.....basically the regular 8 year blend but, with sherry overtones that soften the initial oak taste. Not better or worse than the regular 8 year old, just different. Needless to say, the sherry cask offerings is for sipping, so wouldn't use it in a mixed drink.

This series definitely elevates the regular 8 year expression, but it’s still the 8 at its base. I’d be more interested to see them do different barrel finishes on their Diez but I do appreciate an 8 year old rum that is barrel finished for $30 or less.

Nice upgrade to the standard Bacardi Ocho. You definitely get a nice hint of the sherry finish to an otherwise pretty standard lightly aged rum. The choice of cask finish on the ocho will definitely be a personal preference. For me, the Seville Orange is a step above this one, so I'll put this right between the two at a 7. That may be a tad generous, maybe a 6.5 would be more apt, but 6 doesn't seem to do it justice.