Botran Solera 1893 18-Year

I expected something clearly better than its 30 dollar cousin

Vanilla, hazelnut, spices in aroma; decent sweet, wood, cinnamon and clove; tail is not interesting.

I really liked the bottle of Botran 15 I had before this, so I had pretty high expectations on getting this bottle. The bottle itself is absolutely gorgeous. The rum is very straightforward and honest without added sugars, as you would expect from Botran, and it's good stuff to take neat.
It's just, for the price and the presentation, it really should be a noticeable step up that it just doesn't quite pull off. It probably embodies the criticisms of solera aging marketing because it probably is almost the exact same thing as what's in a bottle of the 15.

Less sweet than Z23 ; more spicy; very good Rum but i still prefer Mount Gay XO and Double Casked

Alap ízek, semmi különleges, komolyabbnak gondoltam.

Classic brown rum with pastry notes, almonds and fruity flavors. The oak is more present and vanilla.

When I opened the bottle it seemed sweet and smooth to me. Today I can clearly smell spices and strong alcohol. Slightly sweet.
Is it the same Botran 18 like on Your website?

Vůně lehce lak, dřevitá, pečené citrusové ovoce, mírně lihová, koření
Chuť sladká, dřevitá, koření, čokoláda, jednodušší
Dochuť tabák, whisky, kratší
Voní o něco lépe, než chutná
6,7/10

I bought this at an airport as the selection was poor, and it was one of the few ones I hadn't tried yet.

I'm not gonna delve too deep into this. It's a fine rum, with some sweetness, fruitiness and what you expect from a rum. The bourbon, sherry and port comes through a bit much here for my taste, as I can't help but feel it tastes like rum mixed with something else. It's certainly not a bad product, but also one that doesn't make me want to go back to it, given other options are available.

It should also be noted my bottle was shaped differently, as it was the short and wide version like the Oak Rare Blend, though from clear glass and with the "18" in the middle. It isn't listed here, but I assume this is the same content, just different bottle.

Pred časom som skúšal 15-ročnú soleru tejto značky, jednalo sa o pomerne chutný, dobre vyvážený suchší rum. 18-ročnú soleru som dostal darom, a to hneď v litrovej fľaši. Má jednoduchý tvar, no už s hodnotnejšie vyzerajúcou etiketou. Vôňa je nenápadná, no veľmi príjemná, so silnými dubovými, vanilkovými a karamelovými tónmi. Po stránke chuti mi príde trochu sladší ako 15-ročný, no stále v rozumnej miere. Tónov tam nie je priveľa, okrem spomenutého snáď cítiť ešte sušené ovocie. Rum je pomerne jemný, pozitívom je znova dlhý záver s následným intenzívnejším prienikom dreva, čo kvitujem. Veľmi dobrá vyváženosť, k tomuto sa môžem kedykoľvek vrátiť, je o chlp lepší ako mladší spomenutý súrodenec. No s vyšším príplatkom, i keď zrovna v litrovom balení vychádza celkom výhodne (sedmička stojí cez 35€). Subjektívny rating silných 7.
38,90€ / 1l