Rum

Echambers

Okay, here is my story. When I was um...er...."younger" my drink of choice was a rum and coke. But when I was younger I had more time then common sense and had a number of bad rum experiences that oftened ended up with me praying to the porcelain goddess. As a result I've rarely drank rum in the last 25 years except in tiki-like cocktails and haven't had a rum and coke in years. Just recently, though I've started drinking aged rum on the rocks or neat depending on my mood. In fact right now I am drinking an Appleton Reserve. So here is my question for the rum drinkers:

What is your favorite rum for drinking neat? And why?

Bigshizza

Zaya, cause it's the best!

christian1971

El Dorado 15 year.

Martel

Echambers:

Okay, here is my story. When I was um...er...."younger" my drink of choice was a rum and coke. But when I was younger I had more time then common sense and had a number of bad rum experiences that oftened ended up with me praying to the porcelain goddess. As a result I've rarely drank rum in the last 25 years except in tiki-like cocktails and haven't had a rum and coke in years. Just recently, though I've started drinking aged rum on the rocks or neat depending on my mood. In fact right now I am drinking an Appleton Reserve. So here is my question for the rum drinkers:

What is your favorite rum for drinking neat? And why?

Ohhh, I do like the Appleton Reserve. That's the last rum I had not in a mixed drink. There's a space on my liquor shelf for a nice bottle of something rum. I've been looking for Zaya thanks to the fools on here but can't seem to find it in my neck of the woods.

twistedstem

Bigshizza:

Zaya, cause it's the best!

+100 on this love the zaya .

jliu

i'm a neat rum drinker. some recs i have for newer rum drinkers would be zaya 12, diplomatico reserva, el dorado 15. they range from $20 - $35 bucks a bottle. rum with cigar is delicious!

Rob1110

There is at least one other thread discussing sipping rums. My recommendations:

Under $50:
Ron Zacapa 23 Centenario - A blend of rums 6-23 years old, aged in a Solera system that touch ex-Bourbon, Oloroso Sherry and Pedro Ximenez Sherry Barrels. Lots of tropical fruit from the younger years with a roundness and elegance from the older rums.
Plantation 20th Anniversary - Made by Pierre Ferrand Cognac, this Rum spends ~12 years in ex-Bourbon Barrels in Barbados, where it's distilled before making the journey up to France to be finished in Ferrand Cognac Casks. Lots of Vanilla, bright fruit, soft tannins and lots of caramel and spice.
El Dorado 12 and 15 - The 12 and 15 are made from completely different runs from the start. The 12 being more traditional and sweet all the way through, while the 15 tends to have more grassy, straw notes and is a bit drier on the finish.
Dos Maderas 5+5 - 5 years in ex-Bourbon and 5 years in ex-Pedro Ximenez Casks, this Rum is loaded with rich, ripe, sherried fruit notes, nutty character and spice blend perfectly with tannins. This is almost more Sherry than Rum.
Zaya - A 12 year old rum from Trinidad that brings forth big molasses notes with black pepper, spice, vanilla and char.
Papas Pilar - Made by Lincoln Hendrickson of Angel's Envy, this rum is finished in Oloroso Sherry Casks and carries quite a bit of spice, nutmeg and a touch of anise.

$50+ Category:
Zacapa XO - Similar to Zacapa Centenario but finished in Cognac casks for an additional 2 years. This leads to a rum much more complex than the Zacapa 23 but with a distinctly drier finish.
Ron Abuelo Centuria - A blend of Rums up to 30 years old aged in ex-Bourbon barrels that is very elegant and smooth with lots of spice, big tannins, a soft, velvety texture and a touch of char.
El Dorado 21 - 21 years in ex-Bourbon with a hefty dose of Caramel, some Honey and Vanillins from the barrel.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions. Yeah, I like Rum.

Cheers!

No_one21

Blackheart.

raisindot

Never having tried Zaya, is is bad to say I've always been a Myers Dark Rum man?

roland_7707

Captain Morgan Silver!

I love the spiced rum and the vanilla that is on the finish is really good.

$13.00 a bottle...everytime

lonewolf2011

The best I have tried so far is the Ron Zacapa 23

MorganGeo

I like sailor Jerry's

bandyt09

jliu:

i'm a neat rum drinker. some recs i have for newer rum drinkers would be zaya 12, diplomatico reserva, el dorado 15. they range from $20 - $35 bucks a bottle. rum with cigar is delicious!

I'm calling bs on the neat part, I've seen Jiunn drink rum and he is sloppy as h3ll............ As far as recommendations, look at Rob1110's advice. That man has had me chasing rum everywhere but he has NEVER stirred me wrong. Some of my great rum "discoveries" has been because of him.

CharlieHeis

MorganGeo:

I like sailor Jerry's

Me too. But I've been thinking of trying others because of a "rum snob" friend on twitter.

Echambers

Awesome advise guys. Guess I have some shopping to do. I'll report back as I stock up...

rzaman

Santiago de Cuba 25 years old is most probably the best rum on earth. Ron Zacapa, Abuelo, Flor de Cana 25 years old are also good but only if you like sweet rum.

Rob1110

bandyt09:

As far as recommendations, look at Rob1110's advice. That man has had me chasing rum everywhere but he has NEVER stirred me wrong. Some of my great rum "discoveries" has been because of him.

Thanks, Bandy!

Gray4lines

Anyone ever try this? Plantation Nicaragua 2001. I was looking for flor de Cana and they were out, but I was recommended this.

First_Warrior

When i lived on St. Croix in the late 70's Crusan was $.97 a bottle.

wwhwang

I don't drink much rum, but my two favorites so far are the Havana Club Anejo Reserva and Captain Morgan Private Stock.

jimmyv723

I'm not a big drinker but have some Kraken Rum that I have with Mexican Coke with some of my pipes and cigars. Real nice combo and it's also good with an Arnold Palmer too.

jd50ae

This is part of the giant flat rate honorknight 7 gifted me with. Could not wait and had some last night. I mean he did include a little sippin cup.

The little booklet says "From the creators of Patron......Pyrat XO Reserve is a blend of 9 Caribbean Rums aged up to 15 years in Limousin and sweet American Oak.....it is a "toasted amber" color and offers flavors of vanilla, caramel, honey, and cinnamon....extremely smooth but gentle "palette texture" keeps it soft to the taste.

That is a perfect description, and this Rum will be added to my secret booze stash. I managed to mangle the cork but luckily my wife uses corks in her crafts and was easy to fix.

roland_7707

Any "new" rums that yall are interested in right now?

jarubla

jliu said:

i'm a neat rum drinker. some recs i have for newer rum drinkers would be zaya 12, diplomatico reserva, el dorado 15. they range from $20 - $35 bucks a bottle. rum with cigar is delicious!

+1 for the diplomatico reserva

Guitarded

I like the El Dorado 12. Best bag for the buck to me. Not "new" to the thread but still recommendable.

Wylaff

It's not exactly neat, but I do enjoy watching @peter4jc mix Zaya with (CM?) and drink it. Something about the idea of rum cut with rum just tickles me.

peter4jc

That's Drunken Sailor Rum (it's a spiced rum, but not over-the-top-spiced)... it cuts the sweetness of the Zaya (the new recipe is too sweet in my book)

Usaf06

My wife went to the liquor store last night and brought me back a couple 

avengethis

I had some zaya with my neighbors last night during the badger game. 

Yakster

peter4jc said:

That's Drunken Sailor Rum (it's a spiced rum, but not over-the-top-spiced)... it cuts the sweetness of the Zaya (the new recipe is too sweet in my book)

Interesting... I haven't tried the new Zaya yet, my last bottle was aged 18 years, I may have to check this out.

jarubla

Some snax picked up this afternoon.

Peter, this looked to be the older bottle style--going by the differences in the printed labels and the dust on the one I nabbed--of the stock they had on the shelf.

Did the recipe change in the last year or so or was it longer?