Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva

Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva
Diplomático Distillery
Lara, Venezuela
ABV: 40%
80 Proof

This is the standard that I compare all other rums against. I first tasted this at a friend’s blind rum tasting party. A few of us showed up and he had 12 different rums of varying price, age, and reason to sample without knowing which was which. I went in knowing that I liked rum but had actually not tried that many so it was very educational. I realized that I prefer my rums a little less sweet, I don’t like the sweetness to overpower everything. This ended up being the perfect blend of sweetness mixed with a little bit of funky.

Diplomático is a private family run distillery in the Andes Mountains located in Venezuela. Their site provides a little insight into their process. It looks like they have 3 different houses that use different distilling methods. Their rums are blends between them all.

The nose of this rum is slightly sweet with notes of caramel. There is also a unique smell that I can only describe as musty which I know doesn’t sound appealing but it reminds me of the smells of going on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland bottled up. That smell carries over to the taste as well but isn’t as prominent. When you first sip the rum it has a sharp bold sweetness that hits you up front and then settles down to a nice lingering warm sweet flavor. At around 35 dollars a bottle, I find it very reasonable and is one of my favorite dessert drinks to end a night.