Comments on: Review: Vizcaya VXOP

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:22:27 +0000

Vizcaya VXOP, is an awesome run, its not to harsh and not to weak. Its also affordable $33.00 in Houston.

It seems, most here are trying to relive the days of pirates and want some thing that drives the scervy away. But in this day and age I rather pay for quality and something that will not eat my liver away in a couple of years.

By: ncyankee

ncyankee — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:30:34 +0000

I guess I don’t see the sense of buying a rum that you can only enjoy by doing shots, if you just want to get drunk that’s why they make vodka.

By: michael

michael — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:11:50 +0000

Let me start by saying my wife and in-laws are from Cuba and when we drink Cuban rum we don’t SIP it we do shots. There is much better rum for sipping but we all and myself included can’t wait to get our hand on Havana Club 7 dark. We get two bottles a year. Sad to hear about Vizcaya because I just bought a bottle. To SIP I love Ron Zacapa.

By: Rumaholic

Rumaholic — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:29:50 +0000

I found myself agreeing with a lot of the comments in Mr. Bilgemeister’s review. I was talked into buying Vizcaya at a DC liquor store when asking about Barbancourt and El Dorado, two of my favorites. I was assured that if I like those tow, I would love Vizcaya. It also didn’t hurt that the bottle is absolutely beautiful (I agree with Rich above that I’ll miss the bottle on my bar shelf). I found Vizcaya to be okay, but very fruity, and syrupy, very much like Pyrat, which I find okay as well, but absolutely nothing like Barbancourt or El Dorado. I was concerned when I saw it was a “Cuban Style Rum”, because I have a bottle of Cuban Havana Club that I bought in Bermuda, and that is not a good rum. If I was looking for a sweet aged rum, I would steer clear of Vizcaya and go for something like Ron Zacapa instead.

By: Capn Jimbo

Capn Jimbo — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:05:25 +0000

My dear Bilgemeister…

It is good, as always, to have a gam with you. As you may recall at The Rum Project (link above), Sue Sea and I have established a category called “Twiggie’s Tie Dye Rums” – dedicated to surreptitiously altered/flavored rums that are simply, well, over the top and part of the old “rum as liqueur” marketing trend.

Vizcaya VXOP is one of them.

Do I buy the “…made from cane juice” by a Cuban family, that has been making rum since 1820? No, no senor! Not for uno segundo de Nuevo York!

As far as I’m concerned this is a heavily flavored invention of Oliver’s marketing department. Their is a remarkable lack of history regarding this “Cuban formula rum”. The family is unnamed and all we get from the company site is a one line history which you – and most of the other reviewers are forced to quote.

My own research does find a company – La Vizcaya – established by Jose Arechabala in 1878, not 1820. Vizcaya produced sugar, rum and all manner of byproducts and was taken over by Castro in the 1960′s. Later they affiliated with Bacardi (not Oliver) to produce “Havana Club”.

The rum itself simply reeks with syrupy spice and is remarkable only in this regard.

Ciao…

By: Bruce Lambert

Bruce Lambert — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:40:01 +0000

I have went through half a bottle of Vizcaya in the last three montsh and have found it to be the best of any rum I have had for sipping. I always have at least 8 rums open and rotate with new brands. I found the above review to by completely inaccurate and NOT supported by any other rum review. I too was fooled into buying the Matusalem 15 due to reviews and found it to be harsh and only useable for mixing since its lack of flavor to burn ratio.

By: Robert Burr

Robert Burr — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:46:40 +0000

Vizcaya is sourced from Oliver and Oliver in the Dominican Republic. O&O does not distill rum, but they do mature and blend rums quite well. Other brands sourced from them are Cubaney and Atlantico. Vizcaya, as it’s cousins, feature a unique spicy finish that some compare to cinnamon. There are no distilleries making rum from fresh cane juice in the Dominican Republic, but the source may be partially aquadiente from Columbia. O&O has a talent for creating rums that are rich and complex, the finest of which is Opthimus 25, the ultimate expression of this genre and one of the finest rums I’ve ever tasted.

By: Rich McKee

Rich McKee — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:52:44 +0000

Yep, I’ve had a bottle of Vizcaya around for about a year and polished off about 80% of it, and find it a little lifeless, although quite drinkable straight. My favorite Cuban still is Matusalem 15, which has a decent rum bite that Vizcaya lacks. Plus M-15 is about ten bucks cheaper. I’ll always have a bottle of that around, but this is my last Vizcaya. Too bad because it is a damn fine-looking bottle.