Ron Esclavo XO

Beautiful simple bottle. Lovely dark color.
First smell from the bottle - Very sweet vanilla, sugar, caramel, grapes and prunes.
In the glass - Lovely dark color and wonderful legs. Looks very rich, similar to Zarcapa XO.
Nose - Molases, malt, conac, vanilla, coffee and caramel.
Taste - Sweet and woody. Lots of oak. Sugar cane, caramel coffee and chocolate. Nice long creamy finish with a hint of coconut. Fills out the mouth really nicely.

A very nice rum! From the top of the shelf and quite affordable. Lovely nuances in both taste and nose. Defiantly a keeper, and a “re-buyer” for me.

All I can say is wow! After well over 800 aged rums later, what an amazing find and what a big surprise. Ron Esclavo XO comes from the Oliver & Oliver group, so that does not surprise me a bit since most of their rums are simply stunning. The Ron Esclavo XO has a very deep color, such a blast of coffee aromas to the nose and my my what a treat to your taste buds. Coffee, chocolate and toffee have an amazing balance. No burn at all at the end, it is super smooth. This rum goes directly to my top 10 list. It is much better than the Dictador XO Insolent which has a similar flavor profile, but it's nowhere close this good.

Detailed scoring analysis:
10/100 Packaging, bottle and label design 9
10/100 Color of this rum 10
15/100 Nose test 14
20/100 Palate test 20
15/100 Afterburn of this rum 15
15/100 Availability to purchase this rum 11
15/100 Ultimate value for money 15
Total score 94

Here's my top 30 list:
1. Ron Tres Loco de Vinos from Vinoble Skanderborg
2. Ron Esclavo XO Cask Strength
3. Legendario Gran Reserva 15y
4. Cubaney Centenario 25-30y
5. Companero Panama
6. Ron Esclavo XO
7. Ron Millonario XO and 15y
8. Plantation Barbados XO 20th Anniversary
9. El Dorado 25y
10. Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva and Single Vintage
11. Presidente Marti 23y and 19y
12. Cubaney 18y
13. Pusser's 15y
14. Black Tot
15. El Pasador de Oro XO
16. Bavaro Black Ultra Premium
17. Punta Cana Esplendido
18. Edmundo Dantes 15y
19. Pampero Aniversario
20. Bacoo 12y
21. Ron Esclavo 15y and 12y
22. El Pasador de Oro Gran Reserva
23. Brugal Leyenda
24. Exquisito 1990 and 1995
25. Koloa Kaua'i Coconut
26. Plantation Gran Anejo Guatemala & Belize
27. Unhiq XO
28. Ron Hero 21y Solera
29. Punta Cana XOX
30. Ron Cartavio XO

I found this to be a great rum. One of the best values there is (after the Ron Centenario 20 which is cheaper and even better imho).

Super easy drinking and smooth for 42% abv. Smells and tastes of molasses, toffee, caramel, burned sugar, honey, cinnamon, spice, and just a hint of orange.

A fabulous rum!

Máme tu další rum z Dominikánské republiky, tentokrát Esclavo XO, který zraje systémem solera až 23 let. Což znamená, že 23 let má jen ta nejstarší složka ve směsi. Čeští vychytralí, v lepším případě pouze špatně informovaní prodejci se vám budou snažit nakukat, že jde o rum třiadvacetiletý, samozřejmě jim to nevěřte. Viz třeba dobrůtka.eu, nebo slepě kopírující heuréka, případně další obchody, které kopírují lživé a zkreslené informace od jiných.

Alkohol: 42 %
Původ: Dominikánská republika
Aroma: Sladce hutný a bohatý styl, nasládle kořenitý, medový, medovinový, lékořicově skořicový, s nádechem hřebíčku, lehce i kůže, i s nezbytnou větrovostí. Nic, co bych neznal, nic originálního a neotřelého, ale zase nutno uznat, že voní zatraceně dobře. (92 b)
Chuť: Pěkně poladěná vůně s chutí. Sladkost asi tak 50-60%. Takže dostatečně sladký, ale ne nějak brutálně, tohle není A.H.Riise. Stylově mi připomíná Quorhum, zkusmo jsem si pro srovnání nalil jeho patnáctku a Esclavo je o dost dál, sladší, výraznější, zajímavější. Ještě aby ne, však je taky znatelně dražší. (92 b)
Body: 92
Shrnutí: Výtečně vyladěný rum, pochutnal jsem si. Měl jsem 50 ml miniaturu.

What an neat tasty rum. Honey sweet thik caramel vanilla woow doesn't give that burn at the end. One of my favourite

Så god, men straight from the cask er bare så meget bedre. Prøv den også.

Best of Esclavos, smoothest, deep color. But e.g. Opthimus 21 from same company is tastier.

Awesome dominican rum! Not the smoothest one, but still very smooth. Not the sweetest one but still sweet one. Close to perfection.

Sampled Ron Esclavo XO rum as part of my Rum Advent calendar. I expected this rum to be very sweet based on my own research and it is, indeed, very very sweet, to the point where the flavors of the rum are hardly noticeable. Those who prefer sweetened rum will definitely enjoy this one but for me it hardly qualifies as a rum.

Good molasses rum, the tangerine taste is unique. It needs a long time in the glas, you can not stick you nose in it immediately.
There is first some molasses in the nose, but after 5min it disappears.
It's sweet and a little bit spicy. Burned sugar with spice is a very intensive flavour.
This aroma combination is almost too spicy for me.
It's rich and intensive, but the sweetness goes up because of the spice. I would prefer less spicy or less sweet version of it.
The mandarine and px sherry taste is very nice. I get an imagination of drinking a PX Sherry (my last PX sherry was a very good and old one).

Profile: mandarine, burned sugar, px sherry

Smell: first some molasses for 5min with steel, caramel, herbs (like in Zacapa rums), burned sugar, dry fruits, mandarine in the background, oak/barrel (earth), some sherry
Taste: mandaaaarrriiine with caramel (this is a very long lasting mandarine), burned sugar, caramel
Middle: caramel, again mandarine, again burned sugar (some bitterness or mandarine peels)
Finish: long, spicy, maaaandaaaaarine, caramel, spice, px sherry
Aftertaste: px sherry and mandarine (do they used PX casks? nice)

Sweetness: 4/5
Fruit: 23/5
Spice: 3/5
Mildness: 4/5
Intensity: 4/5
Value (50€): 4/5
Experience level: professional