I have been reviewing a lot of rums from the Dominican Republic. I love the country and I have tried a lot of their rums. Lately I’ve been reviewing Oliver & Oliver, and yeah, it’s bad, but I promise it does get better. However, for now, I want to take a little break. I am once again in the Dominican Republic to celebrate my 30th birthday, so let’s take a small break and do some non-dominican reviews that I’ve been sitting on.

So I was at a NY Rum Club meet last month, and someone said that someone from Guatemala is bringing a Guatemalan rum. I joked that they would bring Zacapa, but, sure enough, they brought Zacapa. La Pasión, to be specific. Of course, I asked them about it, since it’s a bit of a controversial rum in enthusiast circles, but they told me how much they love their rum and how it’s the pride of their country. Of course, I asked for an ounce or two of it to go, and gave it a full review at home.

Review

Smell

Oaky, with vanilla and red wine. It actually smells less sweet than the original Zacapa 23.

Taste

It’s rich, deep, with honey notes, sweetness, wine, oak, and vanilla. Though, it’s not super sweet. It’s quite similar to the regular Zacapa 23, though, with the PX cask finish, I actually expected La Pasión to be sweeter than the original, but it actually comes off as dryer. Significantly dryer, actually. And maybe a touch smoother. The finish is nice. Not super long, but with floral notes that remind me of a cuban rum.

Verdict 7/10

The improvement is not large, but it’s noticable. Zacapa 23 is almost too sweet, while La Pasión is right in the “just right” zone for me. I sweeten my foursquare rums, so if you like your rums bone dry, this still isn’t for you, but it’s tastefully sweet, and a small, but meaningful, improvement over the original. I have not had Zacapa XO side by side with either La Pasión or the original, so I don’t know exactly what effect the cognac finish has, nor if it likewise makes an improvement, because honestly these are indeed pretty similar, but hopefully I can do that with XO and draw a firm conclusion.

Yes, it probably is sweetened, and yes, they have histocially been caught using glycerin (though it’s been a while and I don’t know if things have changed). With that said, it’s still a great rum, and one that I enjoy sipping on.