Review: Ron Canuto (7 Anos)   83/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on December 17, 2019

Ron Canuto (7 Anos) is produced in Ecuador, at the Destilería Zhumir C. Ltda., (formerly Destilería La Playa) which was founded by Doña Hortensia Mata Ordóñez in 1966. According to the Canuto website this is the youngest member of the family of Canuto Rums produced and aged in the southern highlands of Ecuador. The spirit is distilled from sugar cane cultivated in high altitude regions( greater than 700 meters above sea level).

The rum is produced from molasses on copper pot stills. It is then aged in white oak barrels before being bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.

In The Bottle 4.5/5

To the left is the bottle shot for the Ron Canuto 7 Anos Rum from Ecuador. The rectangular bottle with the heavy glass base is attractive.

Although it is hard to read from the bottle shot, the bottom label contains provides us with both a cask number and a bottle number implying the rum comes from  a single cask.

Although many retail sites refer to the rum as a 7 year old rum, a close look at the label reveals the rum does not actually have a proper age statement. This means the makers of the spirit (if they use this bottle and label) are not bound to ensure that all of the rum inside the bottle is seven years or older.

(If the aging barrel was topped up periodically during the aging process to replenish the angel’s share, then the rum even if it came from one barrel could contain a blend of younger and older rums.)

In The Glass 8.5/10

Colour:  Amber/Gold

Legs: Slender legs

Initial Nose:  Butterscotch, fine oak spice, orange and banana peel, vanilla, almond and light baking spice.  Mushy banana and hints of bitter cocoa seem to be implied by the breezes above the glass as well.

In the Mouth 49.5/60

The entry brings us a light rush of both wood spice and alcohol heat across the palate. Banana and butterscotch lead out with vanilla and almond accents. Orange peel zest adds more heat although the sweetness of the butterscotch tempers this to a great degree. As I sip I notice that the oaken nature of the rum seems to build. I also taste bitter tobacco flavours and hints of cocoa.When I add ice, I like the overall flavour much more. The alcohol heat and orange peel zest seem muted and some nice milk chocolate notes come forward.

In The Throat: 12.5/15

The rum is medium bodied yet it seem to have a short crisp finish. I taste butterscotch toffee and vanilla as the rum goes down and lingering flavours of oak spice and banana after the swallow.

The Afterburn  8/10

Ron Canuto (7 Anos) is a nice rum, although I found it more suitable for mixing than for sipping neat. Over ice it was much better although I still preferred a splash of cola to help things along. As indicated in the review, the rum appears to be drawn from a single cask or perhaps a small batch rum. If this is the case, then perhaps we can expect a degree of batch variation between the different bottlings.

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 spirit.  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)