Ron Zacapa rums are made from sugar cane harvested in southern Guatemala, which is pressed into virgin sugar cane honey. They are aged using a process they call ‘Sistema Solera’ which is based on the system used to age Spanish sherry. Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 Solera) is blended from solera aged stocks which range in age from 6 years to 23 years. The aging barrels used are a mixture of American Whisky casks, and Sherry and Pedro Ximenez wine barrels. The combination of solera aging and the variety of reused barrels creates a highly complex rum with a rich aroma and flavour.
This year I took the opportunity to revisit a newer bottling of the Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 Solera) Rum as part of my Top Rums of 2014 Countdown series which I have been conducting through the month of December. My understanding based upon previous conversations with Zacapa Master Blender, Lorena Vásquez is that the flavour of the Ron Zacapa Rum varies slightly from year to year. Therefore, we may expect some differences in the rum since that last review over two years ago.
Based upon my latest scoring, Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 Solera) Rum, checks into my Top 25 rum countdown as the 11th best rum of 2014.
Here is a link to my latest review:
# 11 Rum – Ron Zacapa Centenario (23 Solera) Rum
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Note: You may follow my Countdown list of the 25 Best Rums of 2014 here: The Rum Howler – Top 25 Rums of 2014
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The Rum Howler Blog 