It is a blend of molasses and sugarcane syrup rums, distilled in pot, kettle, and column stills.

Review

Smell

The aroma is very mild. I maybe get hints of caramel and oak, but mainly, the alcohol fumes drown out the nuances.

Taste

It’s hard to describe the flavor here, but I would say it’s like marshmallow. It’s very sweet and soft. The flavor is not very strong. Mantuano was not very complex or fruity, but it was a little bit, while Reserva Exclusiva really doesn’t have any complexity at all. It’s got a little bit of oak, a little bit of toasted caramel, but there’s just not very much going on with this rum. It’s one of the easiest rums to drink neat that I have tried. It really doesn’t burn, but just going back and forth between this rum and Mantuano, Mantuano just has so much more flavor, and it doesn’t even have that much flavor to begin with.

Verdict 5/10

(Edited from 6/10 on 1/4/26)

Overall, all 3 rums tasted remarkably similar. When I tried the 3 expressions of Appleton Estate and 3 expressions of Havana Club, they had much more difference between them than these 3 Diplomaticos. I feel like you can buy just one and not really miss much in the other two.

Reserva Exclusiva is just Mantuano if you removed what little interesting flavor it had, but also made it sweeter and less harsh. It’s whatever. Better than Bacardi or Captain Morgan, at least, so I give it a 6/10.

January 4, 2026 Update:

Reserva Exclusiva continues to be even less flavorful and even harsher. In fact, back and forth with Bacardi Gold, I think that it just barely beats Bacardi Gold. 5/10.