Review: Ron Aldea Maestro (10 Years Old)   87/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on December 18, 2019

Ron Aldea Rum is produced on La Palma which is the fifth largest of the Canary Islands (Spain). The company traces its history back to the Distillery of Ron Aldea which Don Manuel Quevedo Alemán founded in the municipality of Aldea de San Nicolás de Tolentino, on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria.

The distillery operated on the Grand Canary Island for 24 years until it ceased production in 1960. Carmelo Quevedo, the son of Don Manuel, maintained the rights to the Ron Aldea trademark and in 1969, his son, José Manuel Quevedo Hernández joined his father to pursue the family tradition on the Island of La Palma.

Ron Aldea Maestro was distilled in 2006 from locally produced sugarcane juice using the original still that Don Manuel Quevedo Aleman built in 1893. The spirit was aged in a variety of oak barrels from different origins to give the final spirit a high level of complexity. The spirit was bottled in 2016 at 40 % alcohol by volume. (9623 bottles were produced.)

In the Bottle 5/5

The bottle presentation for Ron Aldea Maestro Rum is shown to the left. The bottle has a heavy glass base which gives it added stability on the shelf. It’s mid-sized cylindrical shape is easy to grab and the mid sized neck makes it easy to pour without spilling.

The label is very nice and serves to give the bottle a sort of masculine class that I appreciate.

In The Glass 8.5/10

Colour:  Somewhere between Copper and Bronze

Legs: Mid-sized droplets falling slowly

Initial Nose: Fine oak spice, butterscotch, almond, vanilla, baking spice and orange peel. Light notes of banana and coconut as well.

Decanted Aroma: Toffee, marmalade,wood spices, canned peaches and pears, leather and marzipan

In the Mouth 52/60

Alcohol push and Spice: Smooth and lightly spicy

Initial Taste: Butterscotch, almond, vanllia and oak spice with canned apricots and some bright citrus. Touch of herbal menthol give the rum a light agriclole flair.

Follow up: Mackintosh toffee, citrus and herbs (thinking lemongrass and mint). Oak spice, ginger, and citrus peel with a mild mustiness underneath

With Ice: The herbal notes become more obvious with camphor, hints of cinnamon, and light licorice flavours

In The Throat: 13/15

Body and Length: Medium bodied with a crisp oak spice finish

Flavours during Swallow: Oak spice, almond, vanilla, tropical citrus and a hint of menthol

Lingering Flavours: Oak spice lingers with vanilla fade

The Afterburn  8.5/10

Final Thoughts: A nice rum sort of bridges the rhum/rum gap by giving us traditional Spanish rum flavours of butterscotch almond and vanilla accented by bright citrus and light herbal french rhum flavours. This would be an excellent choice for a Spanish Rum enthusiast who might want to begin to explore the new flavours which begin to tred towards the French style .

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

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You may (loosely) interpret the scores 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