Review: El Dorado 3 Year Old

Color (5%):  Totally clear, minimal legs. All color has been filtered away. I don't penalize for that when that is the intention, though 5/5

Nose (10%): Nice creamy coconut and vanilla. Dried fruits and cocoa. It's a nice, nuanced "white" rum. There's an aged character, but it's been muted to add complexity compared to unaged white rums. 9/10

Palate (20%): Oh, that is interesting when served neat. Banana peel and candy sugar notes. White to light brown sugars. A bit of menthol comes through. It's a light-bodied rum in terms of alcohol burn. There's a bit of viscosity, but it's neither syrupy nor oily. Baked Girl Scout coconut cookies come in. It stays dry and fruity. It would go great in rummy cocktails: mojitos and the like. 18/20

Finish (10%): Very smooth. Very quick finish. Very little alcohol sharpness. This is crazy clean for what is intended to be used as a white rum for mixing purposes. The filtration does the job very well to keep it approachable. 9/10

Overall Impression and Harmony (30%): This is a complex "white" rum. Rum terminology regarding age statements, color, production region, spelling, and other variables must be clearer. This is an aged rum, but it's been filtered and thus has a clear hue, which could confuse some people. That said, compared to other white rums, this is a banger. Sipping a white rum neat is uncommon, but this isn't a struggle, and you can see how well it would work in cocktails. Mojitos would pop, as would daiquiris. I don't know how this would stand out in a complex tiki cocktail with other punchy flavors, but this can certainly shine, given the chance. 27/30

Retry on Ice (25%): That body still punches. This nuance will not fade in cocktails. Again, who sips white rum straight? But this is plenty good, with lots of complexity. Menthol pops out a bit more, and so does coconut. That herbaceous quality pops in a big way. The sugars were never that prominent, but they don't fade away or become overbearing.   22/25

Total Ranking: 90% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $32

Actual Price: $18

Conclusion:  In my market, a 750 of Bacardi Superior costs about $15, with a 1.75 going for about $22. There's never an occasion to save that 3 dollars for that sacrifice of quality. If you are making jungle juice for a frat party. But even in a rum and coke, spend 3 bucks on this every time. I can't name a better white rum I've ever had, and this price point is more than reasonable. Buy it. That's it, buy it. 

Fact Sheet:

Distillery Location: Guyana

ABV: 40%

Review: Callisto Botanical Rum

Color (5%): Water clear, slightly higher viscosity. 4/5 

Nose (10%): Yeah, that smells like gin. Not like a pine tree, but that citrusy botanical quality is huge. Bergamot, cardamom, and citrus peels. There are no licorice notes, no real pepperiness, and slight white floral notes. 9/10

Palate (20%): Quite dry, albeit the sucrose flavor is there. It's gin but with a few undertones. It reminds me of some gins I've had using honey as a base or apples. It doesn't have the pepperiness of most gins, but as a "botanical gin," this hits the mark. 17/20

Finish (10%): The spice character lingers for quite a while. But it's pretty dang clean. Not nuanced, but lingering and clean 7/10

Overall impression (30%): This is a non-juniper-forward, sugarcane-based gin. This is not a rum on the palate. Rum is sweet, it is dry, it is robust, it is nuanced. There are fruity notes in rum and floral. Rum can taste like cognac or whiskey, but when it tastes like gin, it's so mild that distillate belongs in the flavored spirit category. That's not a bad thing. I genuinely enjoyed this, but it's not a rum. Based on the marketing, I'll be docking points from an otherwise rather high score. 22/30

Retry on Ice (25%): That gets a bit hotter with ice. The spice and the booze hit more, for sure. Certainly a step down. 16/25

Total Ranking: 75% Legendary, Amazing, Great, Good, Fair, Average, Tolerable, Swill

Estimated Fair Price: $42

Actual Price: $39

Conclusion: The story could be more impressive. A Bermuda gentleman moved to California to have rum be taken seriously. It's not really the ambassador I'd expect, but the product is on point. For use in cocktails, this is a gin or akvavit substitute. I am curious to see how it fits in many classic gin drinks. But you wouldn't put this in a daiquiri and call it a daiquiri. A few tiki cocktails could be given some exciting nuance from this spirit, but they would differ from their standard. That all said, I do like this. It's tasty and well-made. The marketing/labeling could be more straightforward. It's a fantastic talking point bottle, and creative types can easily find inspiration for new cocktail inventions. 

Fact Sheet:

Distillery Location: Petaluma, CA, USA

ABV: 40%, 80 proof

Ingredients: California-sourced botanicals, a blend of charcoal-filtered rums from Trinidad and Nicaragua