I have been holding off on El Dorado for a while, mostly because I wanted a big group photo of all the bottles together: 3, 5, 8, 12, 15, and 21, all together like a nice big family on the beautiful Coney Island beach.

Well, you might have thought the 21 would be the hardest to acquire! But no, that is the first full bottle of ED that I acquired, because shortly into my rum journey, I took a trip to Canada and on the US-CAN border I stopped by duty free and got a whole liter of it for like $85, tax free; it was a crazy good deal.

But that’s not actually the first one I tried. Also early into my rum journey, I was actually given a sample of ED 15 by an employee of El Dorado for free. I don’t know if I really have to do a disclosure, because it was early enough in my journey where my review isn’t that good and I want to do a do-over. Oh, I also have a bottle of ED 12, but little did I know, it was actually one of the old bottles from before they severely cut back on the added sugar, so that might not be good to review since it has changed so much since then.

So for now, I will start with the basics and worry about the rest later. Maybe there will be a family photo on the beach, maybe there won’t be.

Note: I am seeing suggestions that it’s a blend of Enmore Coffey and Port Mourant wooden pot still, but a blend of at least four stills, Skurnik claims it also includes SVW (Diamond Coffey still) and Savalle column still.

Review

Smell

There’s a very distinct smell of caramel and molasses. It’s quite similar to Pusser’s, but a bit less raisiny pruney and more burnt caramel.

Taste

Rich, caramel, molasses, and a slight bitterness and burn. Rich, earthy, and has a distinct raisiny earthy taste that I associate with Demerara rum. Somehow, Hamilton 86 kind of reminds me of Myers’s in comparison, just a bit more rubbery and banana. Meanwhile, Pusser’s tastes much more like caramel and charred barrel. Pusser’s and ED8 both share a similar earthy, raisiny taste.

In a daiquiri, it’s pretty interesting. Sweet, almost smoky, earthy, and complex. Hamilton 86 tastes more like a traditional daiquiri, and again, I can’t shake that flavor of Myers’s, but I actually like it a bit more in a daiquiri than ED8. Pusser’s makes the most caramelly and raisiny daiquiri which I think is really fun, and it’s quite different, but I enjoy it about as much as the Hamilton 86.

Verdict 6.5/10

El Dorado 8 is decent, for sure, and I find it pretty much just as good as Pusser’s and Hamilton 86, and those are at the same price point. 6.5/10. Honestly all 3 are slightly different, I would just pick the one that works better for your cocktails, and don’t forget that Pusser’s has a Gunpowder Proof version (capitalized because it’s actually a few degrees below proof strength) which is a slight improvement still.