El Dorado Special Reserve 15-Year

I read a lot of reviews and so I much jumped on a bottle when I had the chance. I really wanted to like this rum, it smells like great rum. Like the rum that rum raisin ice cream tries to imitate, but the burn afterwards turned me off. Maybe the Plantation 20 and Ron Vicapa spoiled me but the burn for the price I paid disappointed me. I tried everything letting it sit, decanting- only after I let some ice cubes melt did it dent the burn.

Στο 12αρι έβαλα 8+. Άρα το 9 είναι λογικό. Εμένα μου άρεσε τό ότι έχει τον χαρακτήρα του 12 , αλλά με μεγαλύτερη ένταση και πιο μακρυά επιγευση. Το ότι είναι λιγότερο γλυκό το θεωρώ επίσης θετικό μιας και δε μου αρέσουν τα σιρόπια.

This is my second rum, it reminded me a lot more of whiskey and I personally did not find this rum to be as sweet as a few have said, I can't even tell it's got sugar added. I think it tastes good and it smells good. I think this is a pretty good quality buy and I would definitely recommend it.

El Dorado 15 Years was the first bottle I bought when I started to explore the world of rums.

When I grew up, rum had a very bad reputation here and that was for a reason. You could get 'True Jamaican Rum' which probably were the leftovers of the cask cleaning... and then you had 'Rum Blend' which by law needed to have at least 5(!)% of rum... and the rest were sugar and industrial alcohol. People used it as baking flavour or in best case to brew a bowl of punch. Nobody in full possession of his sanity would have sipped it voluntarily.

When lots of people around me started to grow interest in whisky, I also gave it a try, but I never really liked the taste.

But this was the point where I started to read about premium rums and after some online research I ordered my first bottle of El Dorado.

And this was were my journey began...

It is rich and flavourful, it is sweet and mild and it got me at the first sip. I don't need to say much about the taste I guess but since then till today I always keep a bottle nearby.

I never started to like whisky, but I lured almost all of my whisky loving friends into the world of rum... and most of them with the El Dorado 15 years. Since it is so delicious but not overly complex, it is a great starting point for a long and delicious journey!

This is always good and is such a great balance of flavor, texture, nose, and smoothness. Only reason it is not a 9 or 10 for me is that it is not quiet as smooth as I like. The flavors are excellent with strong notes of vanilla, dark cocoa, and a touch of bitter orange in there somewhere. It's subtle, but there and helps pull all the more dominant flavors together. Nice spice on the back of the tongue too with a longer than normal finish. It all blends together incredibly well.

Nice flavor and smooth. It’s on my repeat buy list

I actually liked it, but not much. I honestly cannot understand all the hype. I managed to find an old bottle of 43% somehow, which had a better "bite" and a bolder profile overall. Smell partially masked, generic taste with dominant sugar. 40% sampled it at a bar and it was very unimportant? Insignificant? Maybe in a local coctail with tropical ice cream, or with something sour mixed in to bring some balance, it would be much more entertaining. Would actually consider restocking on the old, 43% iteration of it, but that is already extinct. Not the 40%, though...

El dorado 12 was my gateway rum so I was excited to see the 15 on sale. ($40 CAD, usually around $53)
Smells sweet like the 12 but less alcohol and more intrigue. The taste has more going on too. Where the 12 was sweet, it was rather one dimensional. The 15 is still quite sweet but has some more chocolate/coffee, vanilla and oak going on. Longer finish with more to think about. Quite tasty, an excellent rum for my kind of taste: sweet and a bit complex. No one flavour really hops out at me, but lots to mull over. If you like the 12, definitely try the 15!
Based on price, availability, and flavour, this is a 10+!

Lovely rum for the price. So smooth on the palate and easy to like.

The El Dorado Special Reserva 15 Years is a blend of pot and column distilled rums from Guyana. In the process, wooden boilers are used. The rum is said to have been stored in Ex Bourbon barrels for between 15-25 years. In the end, the blend ends up with 43% alcohol in the typical El Dorado bottle. In addition to sugar caramel for the colour, it is likely that sugar has been added.

In the nose, the rum is quite strong. Spice and toasted flavors are there, but he is also slightly fruity and sweet. And there is a sharp alcohol bite. With a little time in the glass, this gets better. But it doesn't go away completely. On the palate, the rum is relatively sweet. There is a little acid and fruit. Honey notes are recognizable. But also nice wood. The body is full but could be artifical from the sugar. Unfortunately, the sharpness is not very balanced here either. It clearly accompanies the finish which contains woody sweet barrel notes. Maybe some liquorice.

Overall, the rum is not bad but does not quite meet my personal taste. He's too sweet for that. Even if this is not immediately recognizable as artificial. If you like it, you can get a solid rum here for 40 euros. If you like it dry, e.g. Mount Gay I would rather advise not to buy this one.

Der El Dorado Special Reserva 15 Jahre ist ein Blend aus pot und column destillierten Rums aus Guyana. Dabei werden angeblich noch hölzerne Brennkessel genutzt. Der Rum soll zwischen 15-25 Jahre in Ex Bourbon Fässern gelagert haben. Am Ende landet der Blend mit 43% Alkohol in der El Dorado typischen Flasche. Es wird neben Zuckerkulör für die Farbe wahrscheinlich auch Zucker beigefügt.

In der Nase ist der Rum recht kräftig. Würze und Röstarmonen und er ist fruchtig und süßlich. Aber auch scharf mit Alkohol Biss. Mit etwas Zeit im Glas wird das besser. Geht aber nicht ganz weg. Am Gaumen ist der Rum relativ süß. Etwas Säure und Frucht ist dabei. Honig Noten sind erkennbar. Aber auch Holz nehme ich war. Der Körper wirkt vollmundig, aber auch etwas künstlich. Leider kommt die Schärfe auch hier wenig ausbalanciert zur Geltung. Sie begleitet den Abgang deutlich welcher holzige süße Fassnoten beinhaltet. Evtl. etwas Lakritze.

Insgesamt ist der Rum nicht schlecht trifft aber nicht ganz meinen persönlichen Geschmack. Dafür ist er zu süß. Auch wenn diese nicht sofort als künstlich erkennbar ist. Wer es mag bekommt hier für 40 Euro einen soliden Rum. Wer es trocken mag, z.b. Mount Gay würde ich hier eher raten nicht zu kaufen.