El Dorado 12-Year

Blijkt dat ik deze nog steeds niet gerate heb. Maar deze is echt lekker. 1 van mijn favorieten!

Reading the reviews I was looking forward to this rum. But having since having tried it on two different occasions it has been a disappointment. There is technically nothing wrong, but I find it carries a bitterness that, say, an equivalent Appleton Estate does not. As such, my money will always goes elsewhere.

Sharp at the frist zip, but it get smoother. Great rum, with nice spices

The first rum I have ever tried and got inloved with it

For the price is excellent.. Aroma.. Taste.. After taste

I don't do reviews....Just want to keep up with my drinking problem....

This rum is unique for me. Very easy to sip, and enjoyable. The flavors are what are different. Much earthier and less sweet than I prefer. Still good to have and sip to switch things up.

It is not the best rum I have tasted, not even close, but the best rum in the price range in which I can buy it (25 euros). Better rums cost double. Hence the 9.

This has a bit of a bite at the front of the taste, caramel in the middle, and a buttery brown sugar taste for the finish. Definitely a sipper and not just because it runs close to $50 a bottle in WA.

This is in kind of a weird spot between the ED 8y and ED 15y. The 15y is pretty much liquid gold for just a bit more, while the 8y is still plenty drinkable and interesting on its own. This is not a bad rum, but El Dorado have already done such a fantastic job in those two other offerings that this doesn't feel necessary.

Nose: A little bit of spice and sweetness, something like caramel or toffee. Not that much roundness to the sweetness, but more than the 8y. Spice is a bit earthy, not on the sweet side. It doesn't appear to be actual woody notes, but perhaps earthy influenced. Maybe gingerbread snap. Sharpness from alcohol will creep in if you nose strongly or prolonged. Can't speak to older bottles of ED, which seem to have had much more added sugar, but this is not overly sweet.

Taste: Feels a bit thin in the mouth. A bit more bitterness than expected. Woodiness that was lacking from the nose is definitely felt here, tannins coming into play. Definitely feel a heat build up if you swish this around a bit, not too sharp but definitely warm. Hard to tell the exact sweetness since the bitterness creeps up very fast. Still caramel notes while swishing, the roundness of the sweetness picks up quite a bit. The overall heft of this drink is not appreciated until you fully taste it. The main note I'm getting probably 5 seconds after gulping is orange peel. Very prominently, followed by sweetness and a kind of yeasty baker sweetness. Bread, cookies, baked goods. After taste duration is probably a 4/10, seems a bit on the short side.

Think I prefer this neat than with ice: there's a fine line where added water squashes too much of the nose for my liking and it's very easy to cross that. 10 minutes even with a huge cube might be too long. Ice on second tasting did dilute some of the bitterness but left the profile overall more muted than I'd like. This also happens to the ED 15y but it takes longer to make a dent in that, while this is quickly diluted and muted. If enjoying with ice, do not wait that long to finish imo.

Overall about a 7.5/10, with ED 8y a bit higher than 7 and ED 15y probably about a full 8 or tad more. I think this is better than Flor de Cana 12y, but when the ED 15y is close in reach for not too much more, I would just buy that almost anytime. Other rum perhaps in a similar price range (give or take $5 maybe) would be something like Dos Maderas 5+5. I would also prefer that if the pricing is close enough.