Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva

I walked past this bottle a sum total of 400 times and never pulled the trigger on it because something always seemed like a better buy for it's price. I finally bought this guy and gave it nothing but high praise before having it. Now my thing is I quite enjoyed the younger brother of the Diplomatico's was it outstanding? No but it was a a very nice not just for the price but in general. So I finally decided to buy this ugly bastard of a bottle and give it a try. First pop of the top it has that same spice fragrance that Bumbu and Kilo Kai have in it. Which made me excited because for reasons unknown that certain spice is quite good at making a well composed blend, i.e. removing the alcohol burn and making it one complete taste. Pouring it in the glass you get an overburden of alcohol smell and oak. Which is fine by me. However 1 quick swig of this and even letting it breath you get a large bit of burn. It's a very dry burn too, the worst kind. Now I mean you get the oak aged taste with a very very minor hint of that secret spice however the harshness over powers the flavors. After incinerating my tongue with repetitive intake of said liquid in an idea that the harshness would stop eventually (sometimes the first sip of any rum can be harsh) to no success. Ultimately I have found that the anejo is a much better rum in both cost and taste and I will continue to buy that bottle it need be rather than this. Mixed down it's actually a very nice drink with some strong oak and alcohol flavor however when I am paying $40+ for a bottle I don't like mixing. I want to enjoy it for all it's worth rather than polluting with diet coke. Save this one for the shelves and go for the Anejo.
*PS the secret spice is banana