El Dorado 12-Year

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.

I see that I'm in a minority here, but I find this a very average rum indeed. A shame as underneath all of it, I think that there is a good rum to be had.

But, and it's a really big but for my taste buds, it is completely ruined by the addition of far far too much sugar. Makes it a very unattractive sipper. Fortunately I have other rums that I'm not completely liking that I have blended with it making a blend whose whole is a lot better than the sum of its parts.

I guess it's easy to say that they would do well to return to more artisan ways, but that's not the way things work.

Very smooth and sweet, great rum after diner as a dessert.

Still i remember in the begining i get a very good impression , and the bottle ended.

Just fell like writing a review so ...

I Honestly prefer this to the older el dorado's I have, its smooth and well refined, and a great price too!

Rich, beautiful nose, very good taste, maybe unballanced a bit..

A smell of toffee, nut, some molasses, spicy, very nice. The taste is a little bit spicy and sweet (but only a little bit).
The finish is slightly bitter but still nice.
A very nice rum.

Go to Demerara for the price! I love it! Added sweatness. While smooth not my choice to sip on.

Landed from irish whiskey some time ago, the El Dorado 12 was the very first rum that I bought.
I'm not really in to buy some cheap spirits just for try, so my choose was this bottle.

Nose: caramel, toffee, light oak and burnt wood, dark and ripe fruits, vanilla;

Taste: starts with a light sweetness, very soft and smooth. Again caramel, toffee, vanilla, but now a touch of tropical fruits. Then kick in the oak and the wood, a little of smoky, burtn wood, very tasty.
It ends with a touch of spice, again wood and powerful retronasal coconut and vanilla.

Notes: it has a very good full-bodied taste and smell, when forgot the glass on the table until the day after, you can still smell some woody notes...impressive!