I really wanted to give this an impartial review, and I got to taste some Puntacana Club rum in the Dominican Republic, and my thoughts were that it's a sweet mediocre rum that is way more expensive than its quality calls for. But it's, in their words, Rum for Connoisseurs. These two rums are pretty similar, so I decided to combine their review. I also wanted to quickly share the description of Tesoro from their website: >A formidable reserve with an attractive dark golden color and mahogany nuances, with a harmonious aroma and notes of oak, toasted caramel and syrup. Oh, wait. They just copied Ron Viejo again. Oops. I would pull a description from the spec sheet as well, but Tesoro actually doesn't have a spec sheet. Story Finally. Finally. Puntacana has decided that this rum is elegant enough, supreme enough, worthy enough to meet the bare minimum ABV requirement in the country. Still below the bare minimum in the US, mind you, but it's finally at the bare minimum ABV for the Dominican Republic and most countries in Europe! Once again, I want to call them out for making the bottles out of thick glass where the rum portion is completely in the little window in the box, and everything obscured by the box is just glass and air. And, the volume and ABV were completely obscured in the black box. At least these ones hit the bare minimum ABV... barely. While 50mL is not a huge amount, at least it's enough to get a good sample. Pour it in my NEAT glass, get a good nose, take a sip, and use the rest for one or two half-size cocktails. But 20mL? God forbid I can actually get a decent sample of your severely watered down rum! This is some advanced tourist entrapment! The best scientists at Oliver & Oliver must have put in overtime to come up with this trick! The gift box hiding the ABV and volume. Also, I don't want to overlook the fact that Puntacana Silver Dry very obviously had artificial flavors added and almost certainly a heavy addition of glycerin. So, I have no doubt that they have zero issues with adulterating every rum they produce in any way they think they can. It's like learning that your chef spat in your food last time, and now you are brought another dish from him. Would that color how you view the food? I will be comparing the rums today against Brugal Añejo, but, since they are now 38% ABV, I will not be watering it down for today's test. Notes: Price: The price for this rum in US liquor stores is around $60, but at Taino gift shop, it's around $160. Base fermentable: Some retail sites say molasses, but their official site says miel de la caña (sugarcane honey) which is a sugarcane juice syrup. Since they buy bulk rum from Trinidad (definitely from Angostura, which is molasses) and from Panama (highly likely from Varela Hermanos, which is sugarcane juice), as well as from various other countries, it's probably a blend of both. Origin: Cask Cartel says that it's a blend from five countries. My guess is the same as the rest of the Puntacana Club lineup: bulk rum from Nicaragua, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic. Aging: The claim is that it is aged in a solera style, then finished for 4 months in single malt Scotch whisky casks from Scotland's Tomatin distillery, with either the oldest portion 15 years old, or 15 years is the actual age statement. Claims differ. Please take the above information with a very large grain of salt, as Oliver & Oliver is not known for their transparency in terms of their ingredients, additives, and production, and retail sites and their distributor have wildly different claims about how it's made and what's in it. Not a good sign. Review Smell Actually a big difference this time. It still smells sweet with vanilla and oak, but the oak scent is much richer and it has this pleasant toasted caramel scent to it. Taste Whoa. Finally some decent flavor. Vanilla, rich oak, toasted caramel. It's noticably darker than Espléndido, which doesn't mean much normally, but it is significantly more flavorful. We're back to being at least as flavorful as Brugal Añejo, while being quite smooth, and as sweet, almost grossly sweet, as Espléndido and Black. Maybe this rum would genuinely be enjoyable if it wasn't so sweet. There's greater depth of flavor— maybe not to the level of Brugal 1888 or Extra Viejo, but it's getting there. A bit longer on the palate too, finishing with nice floral notes. What a shame. I feel like there's actually something decent in this bottle. Side by side with Barcelo Imperial, it's almost the same in terms of wood, depth, and richness, but Tesoro is just incredibly sweet. Verdict {rating}/10 This is not a great rum, but I want to congratulate it for being the first and only rum in my sample pack to break 5/10. The oak is richer, and there's a caramel flavor that reminds me of a crème brûlée. There's actual depth and complexity here... just a bit. In a side-by-side with Barceló Imperial, it comes close, but it's just so sweet. They finally gave me an above average rum at an almost average ABV, and they buried it under additives just to make sure that it's smooth. I would say Tesoro is a bit more flavorful than Brugal XV and a bit less flavorful than Extra Viejo, and since Extra Viejo is aged 3-8 years, and XV is a blend of rums aged 3-8 years and 2-3 years, I'd say that it tastes like a rum that's approximately 3-6 years old on average. In cognac, XO means that the eau-de-vie was aged for a minimum of 10 years. In rum, XO doesn't mean anything, and I would actually bet a good deal that the average age of this rum is far below ten years. Yes, it's darker and more flavorful than Espléndido, but I still believe that the color mostly comes from caramel. So is this rum good? It's good, but oversweetened, overpriced, and why would I buy this when Barceló Imperial, Brugal Extra Viejo, and Brugal Añejo are half the price and better in every way? Half the price in the US, by the way. At Taino gifts, a 700mL bottle will set you back $129.

I really wanted to give this an impartial review, and I got to taste some Puntacana Club rum in the Dominican Republic, and my thoughts were that it's a sweet mediocre rum that is way more expensive than its quality calls for. But it's, in their words, Rum for Connoisseurs. These two rums are pretty similar, so I decided to combine their review. I also wanted to quickly share the description of Espléndido from their website: >A formidable reserve with an attractive dark golden color and mahogany nuances, with a harmonious aroma and notes of oak, toasted caramel and syrup. Oh, wait. They just copied Ron Viejo again. Oops. Let's get it from the spec sheet. >Puntacana Espléndido is a 12-year-old Solera rum that combines elegance and complexity. Aged exclusively in François Frères French oak barrels, these casks lend a unique structure thanks to their high concentration of tannins. During the slow maturation process, the tannins evolve, transforming initial astringencies into delicate floral and citrus aromas, evoking the paradisiacal landscapes of the Caribbean. Story Finally. Finally. Puntacana has decided that this rum is elegant enough, supreme enough, worthy enough to meet the bare minimum ABV requirement in the country. Still below the bare minimum in the US, mind you, but it's finally at the bare minimum ABV for the Dominican Republic and most countries in Europe! Once again, I want to call them out for making the bottles out of thick glass where the rum portion is completely in the little window in the box, and everything obscured by the box is just glass and air. And, the volume and ABV were completely obscured in the black box. At least these ones hit the bare minimum ABV... barely. While 50mL is not a huge amount, at least it's enough to get a good sample. Pour it in my NEAT glass, get a good nose, take a sip, and use the rest for one or two half-size cocktails. But 20mL? God forbid I can actually get a decent sample of your severely watered down rum! This is some advanced tourist entrapment! The best scientists at Oliver & Oliver must have put in overtime to come up with this trick! The gift box hiding the ABV and volume. Also, I don't want to overlook the fact that Puntacana Silver Dry very obviously had artificial flavors added and almost certainly a heavy addition of glycerin. So, I have no doubt that they have zero issues with adulterating every rum they produce in any way they think they can. It's like learning that your chef spat in your food last time, and now you are brought another dish from him. Would that color how you view the food? I will be comparing the rums today against Brugal Añejo, but, since they are now 38% ABV, I will not be watering it down for today's test. Notes: Price: The price for this rum in US liquor stores is around $60, but at Taino gift shop, it's around $160. Base fermentable: Some retail sites say molasses, but their official site says miel de la caña (sugarcane honey) which is a sugarcane juice syrup. Since they buy bulk rum from Trinidad (definitely from Angostura, which is molasses) and from Panama (highly likely from Varela Hermanos, which is sugarcane juice), as well as from various other countries, it's probably a blend of both. Origin: Cask Cartel says that it's a blend from five countries. My guess is the same as the rest of the Puntacana Club lineup: bulk rum from Nicaragua, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic. Aging: The claim is that it is aged in a solera style in François Frères french oak barrels, with either the oldest portion 12 years old, or 12 years is the actual age statement. Claims differ. Interestingly, Tastings.com, in their review, listed it as "aged 3 years or less" likely due to the fact that it can't claim an age statement. Please take the above information with a very large grain of salt, as Oliver & Oliver is not known for their transparency in terms of their ingredients, additives, and production, and retail sites and their distributor have wildly different claims about how it's made and what's in it. Not a good sign. Espléndido spec sheet(https://licorec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ayudaventas-Ron-Punta-CanaRon-Esplendido.pdf) (but take this with a grain of salt too) Review Smell Notes of sweetness, vanilla, and oak. Pretty much the same smell as Ron Viejo and Ron Muy Viejo, except I notice that the floral, perfumey smell is gone. Taste Oh my god it's so sweet. I finally get a bit of warmth in my mouth (God forbid!!). So, to compensate for the staggering 38% ABV, it seems like they put in way more sugar, and who knows what else? I will say that it has some ok rum flavor, though about the same as Muy Viejo. But let me point out: we have gone from 32% to 38%, so now I am comparing it side by side with Brugal Añejo 37.5%, and of course with less dilution, now Anejo pulls out ahead of Esplendido in flavor. Verdict {rating}/10 Heyyy they did it! They hit 38% ABV! A genuine achievement for this lineup! So what did they do? They drowned it in sugar, of course. It has less burn than Brugal Añejo, yes, but it has less everything. Brugal Añejo actually has character, and its flavor can punch through in a cocktail. All Espléndido offers is Puntacana Club Black levels of sweetness. In rum, VS doesn't mean anything, and this rum proves it. Brugal Añejo kicks its butt at half the price. Half the price in the US, by the way. At Taino gifts, a 700mL bottle will set you back $78.

I really wanted to give this an impartial review, and I got to taste some Puntacana Club rum in the Dominican Republic, and my thoughts were that it's a sweet mediocre rum that is way more expensive than its quality calls for. But I only got to try a few, so I bought some sample bottles at a gift shop. It's, in their words, Rum for Connoisseurs. I would like to share the description of the Ron Muy Viejo from their website: >A formidable reserve with an attractive dark golden color and mahogany nuances, with a harmonious aroma and notes of oak, toasted caramel and syrup. Oh, wait. They just copied Ron Viejo. Oops. Let's get it from the spec sheet, then. >Puntacana Muy Viejo stands as the crown jewel of Caribbean rums. It undergoes an average maturation of 7 years in freshly charred American white oak barrels. The uniqueness of Puntacana Muy Viejo lies in its innovative triple-aging process. By utilizing three distinct barrels with varying levels of toasting (light, medium, and medium-heavy), this rum achieves a harmonious blend of flavors. Each toasting level imparts different characteristics, creating a multifaceted profile that delights the senses. Now, contrast this with their description of Puntacana Club XOX: >PUNTACANA CLUB XOX 50th ANNIVERSARYTHE JEWEL OF THE OLIVER FAMILY So are they both jewels? I mean... I guess that makes sense. I also have two "family jewels". Story Did you really think that Ron Muy Viejo, the crown jewel, now entering their premium range of rums, would finally be a bit more than the frankly embarrassing 32% ABV? Think again. I guess Oliver & Oliver wants to disguise the harshness of even their "7 year aged" rum. And they do take every opportunity to assert that it absolutely is aged 7 years. I'll reiterate about the packaging trick. Thick glass, rum only in the tiny window, everything else is just air hidden by the box. They even hid the volume and the embarrassing 32% ABV label. Even the weakest rums in the US are a full 25% stronger than this liquid, and while 50mL is not a huge amount, at least it's enough to get a good sample. Pour it in my NEAT glass, get a good nose, take a sip, and use the rest for one or two half-size cocktails. But 20mL? God forbid I can actually get a decent sample of your severely watered down rum! This is some advanced tourist entrapment! The best scientists at Oliver & Oliver must have put in overtime to come up with this trick! The gift box hiding the ABV and volume. Also, I don't want to overlook the fact that the last rum I reviewed, Puntacana Silver Dry, very obviously had artificial flavors added and, I strongly suspect, a heavy addition of glycerin. So that rubicon has been crossed, as I have no doubt that they have zero issues with adulterating every rum they produce in any way they think they can. It's like learning that your chef spat in your food last time, and now you are brought another dish from him. Would that color how you view the food? So look, I will be comparing the rums today against Brugal Añejo, but, to make it more fair, I will water it down from 37.5% to 32% ABV. Not that I have to do that to make the test fair, if we're being real, but I want to give these two the best shot. I am actively trying hard to overcome my bias, knowing that this company puts out slop. Notes: Base fermentable: Some retail sites say molasses, but their official site says miel de la caña (sugarcane honey) which is a sugarcane juice syrup. Since they buy bulk rum from Trinidad (definitely from Angostura, which is molasses) and from Panama (highly likely from Varela Hermanos, which is sugarcane juice), as well as from various other countries, it's probably a blend of both. Origin: Cask Cartel says that it's a blend from five countries. My guess is the same as the rest of the Puntacana Club lineup: bulk rum from Nicaragua, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic. Aging: The claim is that it is aged in a solera style in ex-bourbon barrels, with either the oldest portion 7 years old, or 7 years is the average age. Claims differ. Please take the above information with a very large grain of salt, as Oliver & Oliver is not known for their transparency in terms of their ingredients, additives, and production, and retail sites and their distributor have wildly different claims about how it's made and what's in it. Not a good sign. Muy Viejo spec sheet(https://licorec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ayudaventas-Ron-Punta-CanaRon-Muy-Viejo.pdf) (but take this with a grain of salt too) Review Smell It smells sweet, with vanilla, oak, slightly floral notes, and kind of perfumy. Taste Notes of vanilla, caramel, and actually the slightest hint of an aged floral taste that I typically associate with cuban rums. I would say that this rum is on par in taste with 32% Brugal Añejo, in terms of vanilla, oak, and floral taste, but burns slightly less. The flavor is not exactly the same, as Brugal has a floral green apple taste that is uniquely Brugal's, while Muy Viejo noticably has a floral taste that reminds me more of Ron Santiago de Cuba, but, again, don't mistake this for me saying it's anywhere near as good as a Cuban rum. It's still extremely diluted and anemic. Verdict {rating}/10 This rum almost has something. If I try hard, I can detect a hint of the aged floral character that makes Cuban rums interesting. It's faint, barely there, but it's a step up from Ron Viejo. But we're setting the bar pretty low to the ground. At 32% ABV, it's still anemic, and at this sweetness level, it's still masking whatever nuance might exist underneath. If this were bottled at 40% with no added sugar, it might genuinely compete with Bacardi, potentially even Brugal Añejo. But it's not— it's a 32% ABV product claiming "solera aged 7 years" that's defeated by a watered down 2-5 year old rum. Disappointing. 4/10.

I really wanted to give this an impartial review, and I got to taste some Puntacana Club rum in the Dominican Republic, and my thoughts were that it's a sweet mediocre rum that is way more expensive than its quality calls for. But I only got to try a few, so I bought some sample bottles at a gift shop. It's, in their words, Rum for Connoisseurs. I would like to share the description of the Ron Viejo from their website: >A formidable reserve with an attractive dark golden color and mahogany nuances, with a harmonious aroma and notes of oak, toasted caramel and syrup. Story I'll reiterate about the packaging trick. Thick glass, rum only in the tiny window, everything else is just air hidden by the box. They even hid the volume and the embarrassing 32% ABV label. Even the weakest rums in the US are a full 25% stronger than this liquid, and while 50mL is not a huge amount, at least it's enough to get a good sample. Pour it in my NEAT glass, get a good nose, take a sip, and use the rest for one or two half-size cocktails. But 20mL? God forbid I can actually get a decent sample of your severely watered down rum! This is some advanced tourist entrapment! The best scientists at Oliver & Oliver must have put in overtime to come up with this trick! The gift box hiding the ABV and volume. Also, I don't want to overlook the fact that the last rum I reviewed, Puntacana Silver Dry, very obviously had artificial flavors added and, I strongly suspect, a heavy addition of glycerin. So that rubicon has been crossed, as I have no doubt that they have zero issues with adulterating every rum they produce in any way they think they can. It's like learning that your chef spat in your food last time, and now you are brought another dish from him. Would that color how you view the food? So look, I will be comparing the rums today against Brugal Añejo, but, to make it more fair, I will water it down from 37.5% to 32% ABV. Not that I have to do that to make the test fair, if we're being real, but I want to give these two the best shot. I am actively trying hard to overcome my bias, knowing that this company puts out slop. Notes: Base fermentable: Some retail sites say molasses, but their official site says miel de la caña (sugarcane honey) which is a sugarcane juice syrup. Since they buy bulk rum from Trinidad (definitely from Angostura, which is molasses) and from Panama (highly likely from Varela Hermanos, which is sugarcane juice), as well as from various other countries, it's probably a blend of both. Origin: Cask Cartel says that it's a blend from five countries. My guess is the same as the rest of the Puntacana Club lineup: bulk rum from Nicaragua, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic. Aging: The claim is that it is aged in a solera style in ex-bourbon barrels, with either the oldest portion 5 years old, or 5 years is the average age. Claims differ. Please take the above information with a very large grain of salt, as Oliver & Oliver is not known for their transparency in terms of their ingredients, additives, and production, and retail sites and their distributor have wildly different claims about how it's made and what's in it. Not a good sign. Ron Viejo spec sheet(https://licorec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ayudaventas-Ron-Punta-CanaRon-Viejo.pdf) (but take this with a grain of salt too) Review Smell It smells sweet, with vanilla, oak, slightly floral notes, and kind of perfumy. Taste Notes of vanilla, caramel, but pretty much very little flavor. Very smooth and little burn. Brugal Añejo watered down to 32% burns maybe slightly more, but still has far more flavor. More vanilla, more oak, more of that slightly floral taste. Ron Viejo is just like water with a hint of rum. It's water that has more sweetness than it does rumminess. Verdict {rating}/10 There's nothing to this. It's smooth, it doesn't burn; makes sense, water is smooth and doesn't burn. The one positive side is that there's no bad flavors, since there's no flavors at all. It's not oversweetened like Black is, but I still only give it 3/10. It's the Natty Light of rum.

I really wanted to give this an impartial review, and I got to taste some Puntacana Club rum in the Dominican Republic, and my thoughts were that it's a sweet mediocre rum that is way more expensive than its quality calls for. But I only got to try a few, so I bought some sample bottles at a gift shop. I figured it's a serious enough rum company to actually warrant me to sit down and give them a review. I've seen their rums in the US! It's, in their words, Rum for Connoisseurs. I also wanted to quickly share the description of the rum from their website: >An absolutely crystal-clear white wine. A clear, clean aroma with character. It has tropical notes, pleasant and smooth. Perfect for sipping neat or in cocktails. Story You know what? When they call it a white wine, I believe it. 32% ABV? Are you kidding? And in case any of yous think this is just the samples being lower ABV to fool tourists into thinking that the rum is smoother than it actually is (which is something that absolutely crossed my mind!) just look at their own website(https://ronpuntacanaclub.com/product/silver-dry/). It's a bit blurry, but you can absolutely see it says 32% ABV. Likewise, for the Puntacana Club Black that I reviewed yesterday, the full-size product is also genuinely 34% ABV(https://puntacana.shopping/catalog/alcohol/rum/temnyeromydo20tiletpremiumvyderzhka/33387/). I will give them credit for one thing, though. This time, they got the color right. This actually looks like a silver rum. Complete side note, but what is up with that URL? temnyeromydo20tiletpremiumvyderzhka is literally the transliteration from Russian of темные ромы до 20-ти лет премиум выдержка. This is bizarre. This is the official gift shop for Oliver & Oliver products in Punta Cana, by the way. The gift box hiding the ABV and volume. Once again, same old tourist trap packaging: thick glass where the rum only shows in a little window. The rest is just dead space disguised by the box. ABV and fill level conveniently hidden. Even the weakest rums in the US are a full 25% stronger than this liquid, and while 50mL is not a huge amount, at least it's enough to get a good sample. Pour it in my NEAT glass, get a good nose, take a sip, and use the rest for one or two half-size cocktails. But 20mL? God forbid I can actually get a decent sample of your severely watered down rum! This is some advanced tourist entrapment! The best scientists at Oliver & Oliver must have put in overtime to come up with this trick! Notes: Base fermentable: Some retail sites say molasses, but their official site says miel de la caña (sugarcane honey) which is a sugarcane juice syrup. Since they buy bulk rum from Trinidad (definitely from Angostura, which is molasses) and from Panama (highly likely from Varela Hermanos, which is sugarcane juice), as well as from various other countries, it's probably a blend of both. Origin: Cask Cartel says that it's a blend from five countries. My guess is the same as the rest of the Puntacana Club lineup: bulk rum from Nicaragua, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic. Aging: The claim is that it is aged in a solera style in ex-bourbon barrels, with either the oldest portion 5 years old, or 5 years is the average age. Claims differ. Additives: European retailers indicate that it contains 8g/L of sugar. So, is it dry? Well, it's the least sweetened product that Puntacana Club offers, so, I guess? It is also triple chill-filtered, filtered through activated charcoal, and filtered through plates of cellulose. Please take the above information with a very large grain of salt, as Oliver & Oliver is not known for their transparency in terms of their ingredients, additives, and production, and retail sites and their distributor have wildly different claims about how it's made and what's in it. Not a good sign. spec sheet(https://licorec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Ayudaventas-Ron-Punta-CanaSilver-Dry.pdf) (but take this with a grain of salt too because the ABV doesn't even match) Review Smell A very light smell of vanilla, and that's pretty much it. Taste Very sweet. This is dry? I refuse to believe it. It is grossly sweet. And grossly artificial vanilla flavored. If the sugar results say 8g/L, then they are adding something else to it to sweeten it more. It's sweeter than Barceló Blanco, which, according to Alko, is 13g/L. Like, I can taste that Barceló Blanco is sweetened, but it's still within my limits because I like my rum a bit sweeter. Puntacana Club Silver Dry is like candy. It's like I am drinking vanilla candy. In a daiquiri, ew. Gross. I feel zero alcohol. All I feel is the disgusting mixture of artificial vanilla combined with limeade. I actually don't want to finish my drink. Verdict {rating}/10 I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I like rums with a bit of sweetness. I like to add a few drops of syrup to my Foursquare rums to make them more enjoyable. So when I tell you that Puntacana Club Silver Dry is disgustingly sweet, I mean it. Official sources say it has 8g/L of sugar, but I don't believe it. Either that number is wrong, or they're adding something else— glycerin, artificial flavors, who knows? Because this drinks like candy, not rum. I also put it in my NEAT glass and swirled it... sure enough, legs. Based on my research, this rum is at most 1-3 years old, likely closer to 1. Now, I did a whole post about this recently where I broke down how legs developed from additives, and I am not 100% saying that there is no way for the legs to form except by glycerin, but, given everything else about this rum, I am highly confident that this rum is heavily adulterated. The vanilla flavor is so strong that it drowns out everything else. This rum is actually disgusting. I couldn't even finish my daiquiri. Congrats, Caribaya white rum, you have an equal. 1/10 avoid at all costs.

I really wanted to give this an impartial review, and I got to taste some Puntacana Club rum in the Dominican Republic, and my thoughts were that it's a sweet mediocre rum that is way more expensive than its quality calls for. But I only got to try a few, so I bought some sample bottles at a gift shop. I figured it's a serious enough rum company to actually warrant me to sit down and give them a review. I've seen their rums in the US! It's, in their words, Rum for Connoisseurs. I also wanted to quickly share the description of the rum from their website. Keep in mind that they also have a 25 year rum (or rather, "25 year", in quotes, rum) and yet this is what they say about their Kraken knockoff: >The house of Oliver’s most daring rum. The most unique and exclusive rum in the whole range, everything about this rum is an accomplishment. Aged in oak barrels that contained Amontillado sherry, the special way it was made make it a unique product in the rum category. Aimed at those who seek exclusivity and uniqueness. Story Oh boy. What can I say about this rum? First off, look at the bottle. Looks really black, huh? I actually went and got my bottle of Kraken to compare this rum to, since I figured it was going to try to copy Kraken. But then I actually took my black rum out of the sample box and, well... you ain't black! It is of an amber hue that is pretty much the same as all of the other rums from Puntacana. Or could it be a confession that all of their rums are equally dyed? And as if that wasn't enough, they disappoint you again by only making the rum 34% ABV. So, regardless, it wouldn't be a good comparison to Kraken. At 47% ABV, it's a full 38% higher in alcohol content. 34% ABV is... not even legally rum! 37.5% ABV is pretty anemic, but I guess that wasn't watered down enough. God forbid the stupid tourists that buy this crap (and I am not excluding myself from this category in any way) think that it's not "smooth". The gift box hiding the ABV and volume. Oh, and just to even things out, they bamboozle me again by making the bottles out of thick glass where the rum portion is completely in the little window in the box, and everything obscured by the box is just glass and air. And, the volume and ABV were completely obscured in the black box. I consider myself more informed and careful than average, and this totally blindsided me. 50mL is not a huge amount, but at least it's enough to get a good sample. Pour it in my NEAT glass, get a good nose, take a sip, and use the rest for one or two half-size cocktails. But 20mL? God forbid I can actually get a decent sample of your severely watered down rum! This is some advanced tourist entrapment! The best scientists at Oliver & Oliver must have put in overtime to come up with this trick! Also I will name and shame. I got my whole Oliver & Oliver experience at Taino Gifts in Punta Cana, and there's more to the story in later reviews... Notes: Base fermentable: Some retail sites say molasses, but their official site says miel de la caña (sugarcane honey) which is a sugarcane juice syrup. Since they buy bulk rum from Trinidad (definitely from Angostura, which is molasses) and from Panama (highly likely from Varela Hermanos, which is sugarcane juice), as well as from various other countries, it's probably a blend of both. Origin: Rums from Nicaragua, Colombia, Panama, and Trinidad, aged and blended in the Dominican Republic by Oliver & Oliver Internacional with, supposedly, a 25 year old mother rum. This part seems the most consistent across all sources. Aging: The claim is that it is aged in 12-year solera in French oak that have been charred at 200C for 10-15 minutes, and finished in PX casks, blended with rums aged 1-10 years from Nicaragua and Colombia, as well as older rums from Panama and Trinidad. But this is the one where the information is the most inconsistent. I've seen some claims of Amontillado casks, for instance. I am not sure why the bottles at the store say "15 year solera" when they don't even claim that in the marketing or the spec sheet? Tastings.com, in their review, listed it as "aged 3 years or less" likely due to the fact that it can't claim an age statement. Additives: European retailers indicate that it is colored with caramel, and contains vanilla, herbs, spices, and sherry. So it's almost a mamajuana? And their own site says that it's triple chill-filtered. No information on sugar. Please take the above information with a very large grain of salt, as Oliver & Oliver is not known for their transparency in terms of their ingredients, additives, and production, and retail sites and their distributor have wildly different claims about how it's made and what's in it. Not a good sign. spec sheet(https://licorec.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ayudaventas-Ron-Punta-CanaBlack-Rum.pdf) (but take this with a grain of salt too because the ABV doesn't even match) Review Smell Brown sugar, caramel, and oak. Not much too complex happening on the nose. Taste Extremely sweet. Overwhelmingly sweet. I can't taste if there's herbs or wine in the rum. I am pretty sure there isn't. My bet is that the listing that says there's spices and sherry added is incorrect. It honestly tastes like Puntacana Club Muy Viejo, but with even more sugar. Which is unfortunate, because maybe the underlying rum flavor could very well be almost average, but it's just drowned in sugar. The positive, I guess, is that it's not actively gross like Kraken. But, it's anemic, overly sweet, no body, no finish, barely any flavor or complexity. Verdict {rating}/10 I wonder what fraction of a teaspoon of that claimed "25 year old mother rum" actually makes it into a 700mL bottle of Puntacana Club Black. Probably about as much as the fraction of this "Dominican" rum that actually came from the Dominican Republic. Cynicism aside, at 34% ABV, it's already starting in a hole. Water down Bacardi Gold, add a ton of sugar, and you might get close to this, except Bacardi would still have more flavor. The rum underneath is not complex, not interesting, just... sweet. And I say that as someone who enjoys a sweeter rum. It's not disgusting, it's not undrinkable, it's just kind of pointless. 3.5/10

And now we are onto our last rum from Brugal... Añejo Superior. Yes, there's also Brugal Especial Extra Dry/Blanco Supremo/Extra Dry Supremo/Blanco Especial... wow this rum went through a lot of names! Anyway, yes, this rum does exist, and I see it everywhere in US liquor stores, but for some reason I never saw it for sale in the Dominican Republic. Weird. Also, it's so much darker than XV, yet it's aged for less. Something tells me that they use a bit more color than just for consistency. Review Smell Vanilla, oak, sweet, but with a strong alcohol smell. Taste I get a great "rummy" taste, kind of that coconut vanilla that you get from Bacardi gold, but with significantly less burn. It still burns enough for it to be well and truly a mixer, but I already prefer it to Bacardi gold. It's pretty dry, but has a hint of sweetness, and it's a bit floral on the finish, like I get from a lot of cuban rums. In a daiquiri it really shines. It is surprisingly flavorful and punchy. Is it as good as Havana Club 3? No, but it's not worlds off. Likewise, it's definitely better than Bacardi, but not far and away. Verdict {rating}/10 In a lot of ways Brugal in general is like a bridge between Bacardi and Cuban rum. If you're looking to pick this up and you're not in the US, I would still say that Havana Club 3 is a big improvement over this rum, but if you're in the US and you're looking for a Spanish-style gold rum in particular, I would definitely skip the Bacardi and go for this. 5.25/10

Continuing on with the Dominican Republic. Let's talk about Brugal XV. The name might make you think it stands for "Xtra Viejo", but so far, the two have coexisted without XV being an outright replacement for Extra Viejo. Review Smell Vanilla, oak, sweet, but with a strong alcohol smell. Taste The taste is predominantly alcohol burn. There's some vanilla, oak, and caramel taste, with a similar flavor profile to the other Brugals, but you can really taste that this one could use some more time in the barrel. There's also a slightly sour taste, I am guessing that's some sort of wine influence. I would say that it's about as flavorful as Bacardi gold, but it does burn less than Bacardi gold, though I would say that both of them belong to the mixer category. I do not enjoy sipping XV. In fact, I think that, side by side with Brugal Añejo, the flavor and burn level is pretty similar. Of course, this rum has no real body or complexity. We have entered the territory of gold mixer rums. It makes a pretty mediocre daiquiri. Barceló Imperial beats it, and actually, even Añejo beats it. I tried it in a rum fashioned, and Barceló Imperial, Brugal Doble Reserva, and Havana Club 7 easily beat it. Verdict {rating}/10 I don't understand this rum's existence. It is the price of Extra Viejo and Doble Reserva, but significantly worse as a sipper, and it's more expensive and not as good as a mixer compared to Brugal Añejo. What's a positive? I like it better than Bacardi gold. It is less harsh sipping it compared to Bacardi, but, again, I wouldn't recommend sipping either. If you are in the Dominican Republic and want the best mixer, get Havana Club 3. If it must be Brugal, then get Añejo. If you want the best sipper and your budget is only around 800 pesos, get Extra Viejo.

Continuing on with the Dominican Republic. Let's talk about Doble Reserva. It's another rum that is first aged in ex-bourbon barrels, then aged in ex-sherry casks. Review Smell Vanilla and oak, but with a strong alcohol smell. Taste Taste of vanilla, oak, slightly sweet, but burns quite a bit. Not really long on the palate, and surprisingly disappointing. After leaving it out for a few hours to let it breathe, maybe it burns a bit less, but I am not sure that I could call this a sipper. Extra Viejo is just a bit more woody and floral, and just overall more interesting. In a daiquiri, I at least like it more than Extra Viejo because it's not as woody, but that's where the upsides end. Havana Club 7 beats it in a daiquiri and neat, but probably not by a lot. Doble Reserva does have a nice body, and when I made a rum fashioned with it, it still didn't beat Havana Club 7 in flavor, but the mouthfeel was nice. Verdict {rating}/10 Extra Viejo wasn't excellent, but it had a nice woody, floral taste. 1888 wasn't excellent, but it had a nice woody, winey taste. This rum is like if you took either of those, but just muted the flavor. By all means, it's not bad, and it's priced on par with Extra Viejo, which feels about right. I'm just not sure that there's anything particularly special about this rum.

Continuing on with the Dominican Republic. So, we already talked about my favorite, Extra Viejo, but what about the most premium rum from Brugal's core lineup? This is the rum that, I was told by my tour guide (on a boat trip, nothing to do with rum) is the 1 choice for Dominicans. How will it fare against Extra Viejo? How will it compare to another ultra premium rum also aged in both ex-bourbon and sherry casks, Ron Zacapa 23? Review Smell Vanilla and oak, but with a strong alcohol smell. Taste Very smooth and easy sipping. Doesn't really burn at all. Has a touch of sweetness and a touch of sour. Ok body, but not super complex, and has a slight floral note, much like Extra Viejo, which I have previously associated with Cuban rums. In a lot of ways, there's a lot of similar flavors with Extra Viejo, and I would say it's just as woody, but also has an additional wine note. And, compared to Zacapa, it is likewise very similar. But aside from the wine notes, Zacapa just has such a deep, rich honey note to it, that 1888 just doesn't quite match. It's close, but it leans more woody. In a daiquiri, much like Extra Viejo, I don't really like it because it's too woody. Again, Havana Club 7 just beats it out. I made an old fashioned, again with demerara sugar and Bittermen tiki bitters, and this time, actually, Brugal 1888 is noticably deeper and richer than Extra Viejo and Havana Club 7. I didn't notice this before, but it has a richness and depth more approaching Zacapa 23 than what the other two had. Verdict {rating}/10 This is the favorite of the Dominicans, and it just became my second favorite out of the Three B's. I was originally going to rate it a 6/10, making it just shy of my favorite, but then I decided to make an old fashioned as I am writing the review, and I think it stood out there enough to convince me to make it a tie. It's quite good. Extra Viejo was good but nothing special, and I think that the extra aging in wine barrels definitely puts a twist on it, and it's interesting, but the wine finish just doesn't do as much for me as the actual depth of flavor from the aging. All of this, of course, ignores the price. In the US, it costs twice as much as Extra Viejo, and you're somehow even worse off in the Dominican Republic trying to buy it. For my money, I would still go with Extra Viejo, or, situationally, Havana Club 7. (I was originally going to say that these two are my favorite Dominican rums overall, but spoiler alert! I have a whole load from Oliver & Oliver that I haven't had the chance to crack open yet!)

Continuing on with the Dominican Republic. I am probably just going to go through all of my Dominican rums in a row, because why not? I tried them all side by side, then took them home, and also tried them side by side with Havana Club (7 for the older ones, 3 for the younger ones) because while in DR, I felt like Brugal rums were very similar to Cuban rums. Review Smell Extremely oaky. Bold vanilla, oak, a bit of alcohol burn, and a little bit of caramel sweetness. I feel like Havana Club 7 is very similar to this profile. Taste For a rum that's not that old, it is surprisingly smooth. Very bold oak and vanilla, a mild alcohol burn, and notes of caramel and butterscotch. It's not particularly rich and the body is just ok. After adding in a few ice cubes and letting it open up, I do get a bit of the floral notes that I associate with Cuban rums, but it's pretty faint. These floral notes are more noticable afterwards, since the palate goes a bit long. I would say that Havana Club 7 has a stronger vanilla and coconut flavor, but it also has a bit of a sour note and it's noticably harsher. But honestly, these rums are quite similar and can likely be swapped for each other in cocktails that call for them. It's lighter (arguably blander), but smoother and less biting than Havana Club 7. I tried it side by side with Zacapa 23, and again, I think it's closer than you'd expect. Zacapa has a deep, delicious richness to it, and I think that the wine finish is tasteful and the sweetness level is tolerable, I don't really think it adds that much versus just the richness of the rum itself. Brugal Extra Viejo is not nearly as deep and rich, but it's crisp and bold, and while I prefer Zacapa, Brugal is tailing it. In a daiquiri, I honestly don't really like it. Really woody. Havana Club 7, while not my favorite daiquiri rum, beats it thanks to its overall less woody flavor, and the sour notes disappear. On the other hand, in an Old Fashioned (I used demerara syrup and Bitterman's tiki bitters), Brugal is incredible, while Havana Club is alright, but I strongly prefer Brugal. Verdict {rating}/10 It's a tough call. Brugal Extra Viejo has a bit less flavor than Havana Club 7, but the flavor that it does have is lighter and nicer. I think I very slightly prefer Extra Viejo overall. Though, both Havana Club 7 and Brugal Extra Viejo fall short of Ron Santiago de Cuba 8. This is pretty much my favorite Brugal. Not that I think that it's fantastic, but I think that it's the pinnacle of the Dominican terroir. Column distilled rum that is very light and aged until it is very oaky, and it's just subtle and easy drinking and mixing. It has the taste that some other Dominican rums have, before, in my opinion, they are blunted or tarnished with unnecessary sherry wine finishes and added sugar. While I don't think that Dominican rum beats Cuban rum categorically, this is the rum to give Cuba a run for its money, and it's very competent. And I must make my bias known again, that I really enjoy funky Jamaican rums. Even Appleton Signature, the most basic of lightly aged blended Jamaican rums, is a 6.5/10, and I do happily sip it, and I do still slightly prefer it to Extra Viejo. But if you have a fondness for Cuban rums, and perhaps you live in the US where it's hard to obtain them, this is a very handy substitute. Not to mention the value! Yeah in DR it's barely over $10, but even in the US, I see it in stores for the low $20s.

I had a very good time in the Dominican Republic. Tho I did not get to visit the distillery at Barceló, my hotel had a wide variety of Brugal for me to try, as well as some bottles at Duty Free which were surprisingly significantly cheaper than the US. I also had a lot of mamajuana. While there were some commercial brands, by and large, the mamajuana all around was homemade stuff. It didn't seem fully homemade as you can buy the spices and herbs in a pack, but then it seemed like they added their own rum, wine, and honey. Rum and mamajuana are products intimately tied with the Dominican Republic, and Brugal Leyenda seems like an attempt at intersecting the two. Aged, woody, and sweet, it doesn't say that it's a rum anywhere on the bottle. In fact, unlike some more deceptive brands, they do a pretty good job of explaining rum to laymen(https://www.brugal-rum.com/en/rum-faqs). Leyenda is a blend of 80% double-aged rum and 20% Oloroso sherry from Jerez, Spain. I'll be comparing it to Ron Zacapa 23, as that is another flagship Spanish-style rum that seems to go a bit heavy on the sherry. Review Smell Pretty strong smell of wine, perhaps an apple brandy. Also a strong smell of sweetness and oak. However, Zacapa smells lighter, sweeter, and more vanilla. It has a touch of red wine scent, while Leyenda is heavy with it, and actually reminds me of sweet aged balsamic vinegar that I had in Italy. Taste Leyenda is very sweet. Woody oak, vanilla, sweet, and smooth. I'd compare it to a Port wine, except extra fortified. In my original notes I wrote that this was definitely aged in wine casks, because at the time, I didn't yet know that it was 20% wine. But I would not say it's undrinkably sweet. It's more like a desert Port wine. It's not super complex, but it's fun, sweet, has a nice body, it's fruity from the red wine, and overall the oaky rummy profile of the rum feels very similar to other Brugal expressions. This tastes like Doble Reserva with a splash of wine. Zacapa, on the other hand, is just on another level. It tastes much more like rum, with oak, vanilla, coconut, but far less woody and far less wine, and has a deeper, richer rum flavor with honey notes. I'd say the amount of wine taste in Zacapa is more like a tasteful note, while in Leyenda, it's more like this is a heavily fortified wine. I'd say Leyenda is more bold in every way. More sweetness, more wine taste, more wood taste, and if you love mamajuana, I bet that you would like this as well. But, I am not going to lie, this isn't a bad drink, but it's not something that I really prefer to drink, except maybe in some very specific mood. Verdict {rating}/10 I think I might have to bump up Zacapa 23 from 6/10 to 6.5/10, it's actually better than I remember. Brugal Leyenda, on the other hand, I would say is worth a shot, but it's not something that I think I would reach for. It's very nice for what it is, but it's basically more of a Port than a rum, and don't get me wrong, I have had some great Ports, it's just not exactly even in the same competition as, say, Zacapa 23, or Cuban rums. 5.5/10 Also, I did some research later, and in my initial research, I just figured that Oloroso sherry was sweet, but it's not. It's a dry red wine. So if rum is naturally dry, and this wine is dry, and they claim no additives, then why is it so sweet? Like, it's sweeter than Zacapa, and I look at Zacapa and think "ok guys, were those PX wine casks really empty when you added the rum?"