Don Q Grand Añejo Conmemorativo
Category: Dark
Country: Puerto Rico
Aged: 3-12 years
Alcohol: 40% (80 proof)
Availability: Extremely Limited
Price: $35 in San Juan, P.R. (750 mL)
Appearance (0-5): 5
Aroma (0-25): 17
Taste (0-35): 25
Smoothness (0-10): 5
Body (0-5): 4
Overall Quality (0-20): 16
Machete Grade (0-100): 72
Notes: After returning home from my Caribbean-hopping honeymoon last year, my wife selected two rums to set aside: Don Q Grand Añejo Conmemorativo for when she got pregnant and Havana Club Añejo 7 Años for celebrating the baby's birth. As far as I was concerned, this meant holding onto the unopened bottles for years. Less than a year later... man, was I wrong. Don Q Grand Añejo from Serralles distilleries comes beautifully presented in a classy, squared decanter with large glass-topped cork. The Conmemorativo is for commemorating the 500 year anniversary of Puerto Rico's discovery by Cristóbal Colón. The liquid is a dark gold with a light pour and somewhat quick legs. Underneath a strong smell of alcohol, the aroma is slightly sweet and spicy, and initially doesn't seem very aged. Given some time to breathe, brown sugar and an almost fruity molasses comes through with toasted oak. Alcohol makes the initial taste introduction, followed by molasses, some spiciness, and a faint fruit taste - not defined enough to pinpoint, but it's somewhere between banana and papaya. Quite dry and overly harsh but it doesn't linger. Overall, it's not very complex. A few merciful drops of water released some hidden sweetness, as well as tamed some of the heat, making the sipping a bit more palatable. The faint fruit flavor is now closer to banana. It's fairly enjoyable - and preferred - in simple cocktails; the tangy sweetness from splashed citrus juice is particularly appreciated. It may be too pricey and tough to find for what it is, but it's definitely a star attraction on the shelf and not a bad way to celebrate the anticipated arrival of my first-born.
Reviewed: March 2008
Category: Spiced
Notes: Me and the Cap go waaaay back. And I'm hardly the only one who's had the swashbuckling bootlegger as a homeboy for years (though the real CM wasn't such a nice guy). Captain Morgan Spiced is a staple in many bars and homes across the 
Category: Dark
Notes: I had high hopes for Bacardi Select (also known as Bacardi Black, but not to be confused with the 6-year Bacardi Añejo). There were some moderately positive reviews online (mixed in with a number of mediocre reviews) and the bottle looked tempting on the shelves (especially for the discounted price of $9.99). Too bad I had to open it. Liquid is an attractive dark amber. It presents an overpowering aroma of sour fruit and varnish with hints of caramel, molasses and bitters. Sipping this neat is a mistake. Tasting notes of white pepper, sweat, and wood with the harsh, dry finish of cheap white rum. A second taste reveals an extremely faint bittersweet cane. Salty aftertaste. It may have some age, but it lacks maturity. Dropping ice cubes and a splash of water helps, though not much as it simply tones it down to an average young rum taste. But not all is disaster... cutting it with coke (not diet, so as to compensate for the missing sweetness) rounds out the rum a bit and brings the fruit and oak to the forefront. With ginger ale and a squeeze of lemon, it's OK. Adding it as a boat drink floater might be the best way to enjoy this rum as its bitter flavors and dryness make a relatively decent contrast to super-sweet mixes. Bacardi 8 and Bacardi 1873 Solera both blow Select out of the water. I think it aims to be Myers's [sic] Dark but it clearly comes up very short. Even finding it for $10 might not be worth it.
Category: Infused
Notes: The initial aroma is of strong, rich raspberry and black currant with maybe a bit of cherry. If I were blindfolded, I might mistake the smell for IHOP's boysenberry pancake syrup instead of a rum - which I suppose might only be a bad thing because it is a rum. It tastes a bit like bubblegum, and it's not as smooth as I was expecting considering the thoughts of candy and pancakes. Though mostly masked by the overpowering berry flavor, there's a soft slightly buttery finish with the medium heat. Mixed with 7-Up or as added flavor in mixed drinks (particularly frozen drinks), it can be fairly tasty. Definitely a bottle meant for mass consumption at parties and summer barbecues.
Category: Infused
Notes: Let's be honest: one doesn't buy this "lite spirit" looking for premium taste. Its purpose is to provide the approximate flavor without so many calories. The aroma and taste is completely artificial - like berry bubblegum (even moreso than Bacardi Razz, which I assume is what Bacardi is providing this as an alternative to) - and the body is thin. Mixed into weak drinks, it serves its purpose, though I'd throw in some other rum to balance the flavor and up the alcohol content. Then again, that would defeat the purpose of a 1/2-the-calories rum. Actually, I'm not convinced this really is rum. And thus why I have to give this guy a low rating: it's not that it's bad tasting, per se, it's just too artificial and too little like rum to merit many points. If you want rum, I recommend just sticking to something better and running a few laps in the morning.
Category: Gold
Notes: The light amber color in the bottle looks promising, but when poured it's a bit thin and cheap and a little uinviting. On its own the soft molasses and spice aroma is not bad, but once the sucker hits your lips, it's all downhill. It's harsh (not quite 'mellow and smooth' as the label would have you believe) and has no specific flavors except maybe standard molasses and wood, which is overpowered by a general taste of alcohol. The burn carries down your throat where it finds a soft seat in your belly and starts preperations for a hangover party. Neat and on the rocks, not surprisingly, are horrible and not how this rum should be drank (drunk?). And despite it being such a standard in frat house rum and cokes (I know it was a staple of my liquid diet once upon a time), I don't think it even cooperates that well with sodas. In mixed drinks where it can blend with other spirits, such as 
Category: Spiced
Notes: Immediately when the bottle is opened and Tattoo is poured, there is a noticable aroma of citrus, vanilla, and cherry. The liquid itself has a dark caramel color with a golden glow. There is a faint taste of general allspice with some warmth but little actual burn in the finish. Mixing is why it was created but it's not necessary as it's pretty good 
