Comments on: Review: Ron Zacapa Centenario

By: Carlos Pinto

Carlos Pinto — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:48:14 +0000

I started my Rum journey with Haitian Barbancourt 15 years back in the ’80s – a superb and unexpectedly “dry”, “cognac-like” Rum. Then I met Zacapa Centenario, in the old palm-pack and then the new one – an almost opposite approach vs. Barbancourt but an exceptional alternative approach to Rum. More recently I was introduced to a new wonder, which experience resembles more the Zacapa than the Barbancourt universe – the Dos Maderas PX 5+5. Everyone dedicated to Spirits should try it. No Rum lover should ever let a second go past without trying it – and the Barbancourt, for that matter. Cheers !

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:02:33 +0000

What other rums that you have tried are superior? I would love some recommendations.

Thank you! Jerry

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:32:39 +0000

For the sake of my own rum journey I have found this thread really sheds light on rum that matters. I like this rum and find it enjoyable. Should it be called rum? not sure…in fact that is what made me come to this site. I think that there is additional or residual sugar added back to this product as well as glycerol and I do think it has more of a “deserty” flavor. My question about this rum is how pure of a product is it or how much of it is made up in a lab? Sure it says it is a blend of 23yr old rums but the reality is they can generate enough rum to fill the market??? how is that really possible given the evaporation of rums from different ages etc??? I like it be because it is part of Diagio I am sucpicious of the true purity of the product. If anybody can prove that this is in fact pure un-adultrated blended rums with the oldest being 23yrs old I would love to hear about it.

My guess is that during the distillation of sugar cane the second or third distillation adds back some raw sugar cane to be re-distilled and the aging is more chemistry than barrel age. Thoughts???

By: George

George — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:03:02 +0000

This is still interesting to me even though your review is quite old and you’ve sampled more than your fair share of rums since this review. Your two star rating is in deed misleading. You have to judge rum based not only on your own palette, but an assessment of what the rum is trying to achieve. Ron Zacapa is certainly a rum of distinct complexity and quality. Many have tried to imitate it (Pyrat, Zaya Gran Reserva come to mind). Just because it doesn’t fit what you personally believe rum should be, doesn’t mean it doesn’t lend itself to a quality rum. Tasting a high end quality rum from Cuba, and another from Barbados might cause one to think less of the rum from either place depending on your taste buds, but comparing to two in itself is a failure in large part on the person tasting the rum. You don’t compare Zinfandel to Pinot noir for the sake of judging the wine even though they’re both red. Neither should you compare Zacapa to anything you’ve previously drank and enjoyed that doesn’t follow Zacapa’s theory for producing quality rum. I would invite you to try Ron Zacapa again with a clear palette and judge it based on what it is attempting to achieve rather what you think the distiller should have attempted to achieve to become what is in your mind a great rum. Please understand that I don’t question your love of rum, simply your judgement of this rum.

By: Bilge

Bilge — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:06:51 +0000

Wow, Nick. I often try to treat differing opinions with some level of respect, but you’re an ass. 25 rums? 25 DIFFERENT rums? What a world traveler you are.

I’ve tried hundreds of rums. And I don’t much like Ron Zacapa. And therefore in your tiny eyes I can’t appreciate top shelf rum? If your sole definition of top shelf were Zacapa and its ilk, you might have a point. But rum is a larger world than that, and your cherished Zacapa is just a tiny segment of it – and a segment that I submit to be wholly overrated and a poor example of rum at its finest.

By: Nick Weston

Nick Weston — Sat, 14 May 2011 17:22:17 +0000

Hmmm…

I found Ron Zacapa at Cuidad, a restaurant in L.A. that features rums from all over the world.
Over the years I’ve tried more than 25 rums, and nothing beats Ron Zacapa. Even the bartenders said that that was their favorite.
That is why I’m taking the time here to post that your two star rating is hilarious.
Now go back to your Capt. Morgan’s Lite and stay off that top shelf…

By: Doctor Memory

Doctor Memory — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:30:44 +0000

Man, give the Zacapa a 2-of-5 star rating and you’ll still end up getting comments nearly four years later! I should do this myself, and load up the page with google ads…

Anyway, to each their own — I happen to really like the sweetness of the Centenario’s initial attack. But you’re certainly right that holding it up as the sine qua non of rums is sort of missing the point: I tend to think of Zacapa as the Laphroig of rums! It’s very much its own thing, and it’s almost useless to compare it to any of its sister spirits: either you like it or you don’t, and if you don’t there’s no reason to waste money on it!

By: dMODE101

dMODE101 — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:50:20 +0000

I tasted this rum yesterday and I still yearn for the next tasting of it. It is by far the best rum I ever had – not an expert on rum though… but I know quality when I taste it.

Where I live (Denmark) young people sadly call Captain Morgan a great rum and they dislike anything but that… but I converted a few yesterday!

Normally I’m a whiskey drinker so I don’t search for good rum as such … and why search anymore – I found what I was looking for!!!

By: Capt. Thomas Foolery

Capt. Thomas Foolery — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:13:01 +0000

I can understand the “overly desserty” assessment. I don’t mind it so much, particularly since it’s a good desserty (not cough-syrup flavored like Zaya tends to start tasting for me halfway through a glass). I’ve finally nutted up and started drinking like a real pirate – rum, neat, warm. Now I’m going through all my rums and finding they are vastly different experiences in some cases when no rocks are involved.

But I say tomato and you say…well, you should say tomato cause that’s how the damn thing is said! Even so, it just points out how very subjective all of this is as we each bring different sets of conceptions/preconceptions/ideals to the table.

Shot for shot, gill cup for gill cup, you’ve still got the best reviews around.

By: Bilge

Bilge — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:19:37 +0000

I’ve indeed tried this rum here and there to see if it or my tastes have changed, but I still find it overly deserty for my taste. It’s good when measured on its own, but it fails to capture the essence of ‘true’ rum’s robust, pillage&plunder, take no prisoners spirit.

I realize that penalizing a rum based on what I think rum “should” be puts me at odds with some. But hey, I make no secret of my preferences, and I think a voice needs to be given to those who prefer to see rum stick closer to its roots, rather than climbing the social ladder and becoming too blue-blooded for the pirate world to stomach in good conscience