Zaya Grande Reserva 16-Year

Another great rum from Trinidad. Smooth and opens up nicely

A 6.5 on my scale. Partly for $21.99 price. A nice flavor straight and sweeter than I would have thought.

Tried this at a nice jazz club in the San Diego Gaslamp District. Nice subtle flavor, smooth and fairly sweet, but not too sweet (IMHO).

Wife likes it more than me. Has a odd aftertaste that I can't quite place. Ok, not great

For $20, this is a pretty good rum. Best I’ve found in this price range.

Smells sweet, tastes... different. There’s something that I can’t put my finger on. Sweet, maybe apple or spice almost? Anyway it’s got a bit of a bite, considering the price point ($50 CAD). Definitely more going on than just a baseline Carmel flavour. Another fun rum to sip for the collection.

View: Pours light golden brown.

Nose: Smooth vanilla and oak notes

Initial Tasting: Sweet vanilla, but natural, not gimmicky

Body: warm vanilla

Fade: slight burn on the back end, but vanilla holds true

Overall: Excellence achieved. Great for sipping, as well as with Coke or ginger beer

I fell for this sweet rum and bought a whole bottle rather than one ounce at a bar as I did for their Zaya 12. I would say that it still has somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 gpl of added sugar and no telling what else. It comes off as being so fake, but it is still drinkable and not quite disgusting. Aging in the bottle may change my perception and sweet rums are notorious for deteriorating in the bottle after only a few weeks.

I tried mixing this one with my favorite cola, and it was barely acceptable. Not the worst, but certainly not the best. Since this one HAS to be used as mixer and is priced so high, I would tell others to stay the hell away. The only reason that I rated it as high five is because I have encountered too many more undrinkable rums.

This one is not even a good drunk! I am being very generous with my rating of 5, but anyone rating this one higher clearly does not know good rums from bad ones!!!!! I will leave it at that.

So my first review of Zaya 12 was back in 2015, when I felt like I discovered heaven. Great flavor of molasses, caramel, chocolate, vanilla.....all of the flavors I love to discover in a great rum, plus a little honey flavor. Great bottle, little Brother to Zacapa 23, and $31 a bottle at that time. Then, corporate greed set in around 2017, and the mix was cheapened along with the bottle. The mix gotten considerably younger and more harsh, less refined for sure. My favorite Go To was gone. Now, after all of the harsh consumer reciews blasting the Company for their greed and stupidity of F-ing up a great thing, the mix and bottle design has changed again, but for the better. I think that this is the 4th or 5th receipt change through Zaya's history. But, it is not a 16 year old rum. Where as the 2015 Zaya was a 12 year blend, suggesting that the youngest rum blended was 12 years old and could be 15, 18 or 20 years or more, and the 2017 edition was up to 12 years with numerous blended rums (cheaper!!!!), the new and improved 2019 edition, Zaya 16, suggests that multiple rums are blended up to 16 years old. What a difference when you compare the taste of the 2017 12, versus the 2019 16 year. MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT In blend and flavor. Vanilla, Molasses, Caramel and Honey flavors have returned. Maybe not as aged as the original 2015 edition I discovered, but pretty damn close, for sure. Try it neat, with a cube or even mixed with a Diet Coke if you like. And maybe too sweet for some folks, but I really like this Zaya 16. And I have seen prices in the $29 range, so a great but for a solid rum under $30. Zacapa 23 at $45 is also a great rum I enjoy from time to time, and again, the same Owners of Zacapa and Zaya. Guys, go pick up a bottle of Zaya 16 and enjoy. Cheers!!!!!

A smooth and sweer tasting rum. Hints of vanilla. I liked it.