Review: Arehucas 12 Anos Anejo Reserva Rum  86/100
Review by Chip Dykstra
January 22, 2021

Destilerías Arehucas traces its origin to August 9, 1884 when La Fábrica the San Pedro sugar factory officially opened in Arucas, on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria. Although the facility was a sugar factory, sugar cane distillates and rum was also produced. In 1965, La Fábrica changed its name to Destilerías Arehucas Distilleries. . Today the facility produces a full range of cane spirits including traditional white and amber rums, aged rums and flavoured Honey Rums.They also produce a selection of fruit liqueurs and Creme spirits.

One of the premium spirits produced at the facility is Arehucas 12 Anos Anejo Reserva. According to most retail websites which carry the spirit, the rum has been distilled in two columns from sugar cane juice and aged for 12 years in oak. The final spirit is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.

In the Bottle 5/5

Arehucas 12 Anos Anejo Reserva is sold in the nifty looking  bottle shown to the left. The presentation also includes a dandy looking canister which looks great on the rum shelf. The bottle is topped with a cork closure which sits at the top of a wide mouthed mid length neck which certainly makes pouring easy.

I could quibble and complain that the glass base on the bottle could be thicker to give the bottle more stability, but the stubby bottle seems quite nice as it is.

In The Glass 8.5/10

Colour: Past copper and on the way to bronze

Legs: Mid-sized droplets which drop as slender legs

Nose: Oak spice and vanilla with lightly pungent baking spice (allspice, nutmeg and hints of cinnamon) and leather. Caramel and marzipan climb into the breezes and well as notes of banana and bits of bittersweet chocolate.

In The Mouth 51.5/60

The rum is lightly sweet with light caramel and chocolate flavours combined with leathery oak and vanilla. Baking spice (cinnamon and hints of clove) and dry fruit (raisin) add some complexity as does a taste of nougat and pungent tobacco. The dram is pleasant to sip with some higher citrus notes brightening the palate; but I was hoping for more overt oak depth and character.

In The Throat  13.5/15

The rum has a shortened finish; but it is smooth with ebbing flavours of chocolate caramel and fine oak spice.

The Afterburn 8.5/10

Arehucas 12 Anos Anejo Reserva is a nice rum with a pleasant lightly sweet flavour profile.  It lacks the depth and complexity to generate a score in the 90s, but it has a gentle laid back character which is appealing. My final score settled in at 86/100 which represent an excellent rum for sipping or for mixing.

If you are interested in comparing more scores, here is a link to my other published Rum Reviews.

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My Final Score is out of 100 and you may (loosely) interpret the score as follows:

0-25     A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49   Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59  You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69   Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74    Now we have a fair mixing rum or whisky.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84    We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89    Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94    Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+       I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 79.5    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5     Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95         Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping and for sublime cocktails.)
95.5+            Platinum Award (Highest Recommendation)