Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum, 70 cl, 40 percent

Product Information

All their activities in DUSA are aimed at the intensive use of the natural resources they have without leaving out their commitment to the environment. So, they designed a 100% sustainable system that begins from the inside. At the organizational level, each job position carries out specific tasks for environmental protection. The company also promotes training and awareness programs among its employees. I have nothing nice to say about the Barbet. Dull yet expensive. Avoid buying a full bottle at all costs. It is very well-designed, divided into two parts: manufacturing areas and supporting areas, and it covers a total of 18 hectares. The humidity in the plant is 90% and remains constant throughout the year, which along with other environmental conditions has a significant impact on the aging process since alcohol ages three times faster than in other parts of the world. The Physical-Chemical Laboratory is the heart of the analysis of all elements involved in the production process. Raw material, alcohols, products in-process, and finished spirits are subjected to analysis in this laboratory where the quality standards established for each element are verified. Once approved, they pass to the Organoleptic or Tasting Laboratory where the sensory standards established are certified. Enter Shanika, my rum fairy godmother. When she described the Diplomático rum she loved, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Was this the rum that would finally convert me into a rum fan?

A pair of continuous columns stills, from which it is obtained alcohol at 96% to produce light rums with subtle aromas. Prestige Range: Ambassador, bottled at 47% ABV, with 12 years of aging and finished in a selection of Pedro Ximénez sherry barrels for 2 years. Single Vintage, bottled at 43% ABV, with 12 years of aging and finished in Oloroso Sherry barrels for one year.On the nose: A persistent and pronounced punch of ethanol. It gives way to medium scents of pepperiness, canned peaches, honey and orgeat. Behind those are light scents of apricot, candied orange and banana syrup. On the other hand, the barrels are categorized by code, not by-product, which will be part of a specific formulation that will grant them the profiles to make each spirit. In this case, Monsalve said, “we do not age rums, we age formulas or codes to maintain the sensory profiles.” Now, let’s talk about El Paso de Diplomático, a visitor-friendly tour format that makes it possible to share with you all this knowledge. It combines audiovisuals with a plant visit guided by an expert. Since 2012, they offer a unique experience in which you explore this rum, literally, in all its senses. The brand is also conducting specific actions nationally and internationally to extend its “ Distilled Consciously” program to teach how to create a more sustainable rum with Zero Waste in the production process. They are working with NGOs that fight against food waste, as well as to promote food collection, fundraising, and training workshops campaigns in the main markets they operate. So while we may not have been our most eloquent selves at the end of the night, one thing was certain: we had finally found a rum that we all liked. Congratulations, Diplomático: you have five new rum fans on your hands.

In the mouth: A light pepperiness upfront caressed by a round texture formed by the added sweeteners. I get a pronounced sweetness formed by the light tastes of prunes, raisins, toffee, blood orange, orange peel, vanilla, maple syrup, muscovado syrup, honey and cloves. Conclusions Directions: Shake all the ingredients with ice. Strain into coupe glass. (Note that there is no garnish.) This is a beautifully dark rum, and has some great fruity notes coming off the glass almost immediately. On the aroma I’m getting pineapple, coconut, mango, and banana, all mixed with some brown sugar sweetness. Darker, aged rums are naturally complex on the palate. The mixing spectrum remains broad, however it gravitates more toward spices, dark fruits and decadent treats. Here are some that we’d recommend: In the Hacienda Saruro, next to the town La Miel (Lara), the complex has one of the few plants in the world with different distillation systems gathered in one place. Therefore, the manufacturing plant can produce not only rum but also whiskey, gin, vodka, and cocuy.This big family of more than 800 employees is also led by what they named as the “perfect triplet”: José Ballesteros, President of DUSA and the head of the internationalization of Diplomático Rum; and two of his partners, Rolando Díaz and Humberto Arispe, both involved in the spirits business for many years, mainly focused on the technical and organizational tasks for the development of the brand. On this matter, Monsalve highlighted, “our most valuable capital is the human resource”. Rum is becoming an increasingly interesting category. Super premium rum has grown at an annual rate of 17% over the last five years. In 1989, the Diplomático’s voyage began. The family-owned brand was inspired by Don Juan Nieto Meléndez (“Don Juancho”), the portrait on the bottles. He was a local nobleman that put his soul and heart into exploring the sources, ingredients, methods, and environmental factors behind the complex flavors of rum and other traditional liquors.

While sipping a lavender negroni at Dante during Negroni Week, I started chatting with the women next to me at the bar. (You know you’re gonna become fast friends if you’re bonding over a negroni.) As we discussed our favorite spirits — mine being bourbon, of course — I realized that I don’t drink rum very often. Miss Scarlet noted that the rum “smells somewhat sweet,” but appreciated that she could actually sip on the rum alone. “Normally, when I drink straight whiskey, it burns,” she said. “This rum doesn’t burn me, though – I can actually drink it straight. I like it, and I would sip this.” Once the alcohols are in barrels, wood will act on the congeners that are part of the alcohol, and it will make them react. This is the exact moment new nomenclatures begin to form that eventually produce the smoothness, aromas, flavors, and color of rum as such. On the nose: Medium scents of sweetened pimento dram, vanilla, muscovado syrup, cinnamon, maple syrup, oranges, milk chocolate, toffee and blood orange.The tasting takes place at different times in the process. The first time is done before sending the alcohol to aging, other tastings are made while aging, and the last one is during the blending until they obtain the desired spirit. We can see how the production of Diplomático Rum truly combines craftsmanship with the most modern technology. Everything this gives off is just sweet flavors. If I wanted to die of a sweetness overdose, it would be cheaper to chug maple syrup. Paying almost €41 for this one-dimensional, adulterated rum sounds ridiculous to me. Foursquare’s RL Seale 10 and the Appleton 12 are much better buys. They’re honest, cheaper and simply better. Score: 3/10 To start our journey through the Diplomático production process, we should first introduce Miguel Monsalve, Institutional Ambassador of DUSA, and our guide during the visit of The Rum Lab team made to the distillery. Monsalve made us immerse ourselves in “the heart of Diplomático”. I expected to like the Pot Still the best at the beginning of this, but I ended up liking the Batch Kettle the most. It has a strong heat on the nose that gets in the way of its complexities. Despite me thinking it is also one dimensional, it showed the most complexity among the three. Is this worth €61? Not really. The price is only slightly justified by its status as a limited edition, but like many such releases today, they’re not close to high quality. This also just shows that pot-distilled spirits aren’t always better than column distilled spirits. What has been explained so far answers us where the complexity of Diplomático comes from and what makes it unique. Considering the five distillation systems, different types of barrels, plus different years of aging, in the end, they obtain a nomenclature of more than 150 rums, from the lightest and youngest one to the darkest and most complex. Blending

At this point, there is no way to intervene or accelerate the process, it is only controlled in two ways: physical-chemical and sensory. Through an inventory survey conducted periodically as long as an aging curve analysis, they will know when the alcohol is ready to be extracted and blended, always following their aging criteria. On the front is the label, sporting the illustrated portrait of a fabled noble Venezuelan adventurer and rum aficionado named Don Juancho. The man is a complete fabrication — a legend — but the image is striking and appealing, looking with the rest of the label like a large postage stamp. It’s a great design that I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else, besides maybe something similar from Few Spirits in Chicago. I’ve long held the sugar industry responsible for the dumbing down of many palates. Food and beverage brands have been cutting corners and relying on sweeteners to replace the lost flavors in their products for decades. This has conditioned us to prefer overly-sweet and/or neutral-tasting products. I think a lot of “rum” brands learned something from this. I was told by a long time rum geek that a lot of sweetened and well-known rum brands today entered the market in the mid-2000s. A lot of these brands, despite the adulteration, are considered today’s “beginner rums”; one of them is the topic of today’s piece.

Rum Contents

Diplomático’s rums are made from sugar cane, molasses, and honeys, which are fermented with the distillery’s own strain of yeast. They produce blends of dark and light rums aged from two to twelve years. This brand is Diplomatico. They are a family-owned brand from Venezuela. The distillery was established in 1959, but was under a company called LUSA, who was under Seagram. In 2002, the current owners bought the distillery and renamed it Destilerias Unidas S.A. (DUSA). They like to distinguish themselves from other brands by emphasizing their use of sugarcane honey. At the time, DUSA started with four brands: Chemineaud (liqueur brandy), Manager’s (whiskey liqueur), Cinco Estrellas (rum liqueur), and Diplomático (rum), the gem of the company. At present, it has a great portfolio with a variety of liquors produced with the highest quality standards. They work with up to ten varieties of sugar cane; however, there are four varieties they use the most: Romana, Venezuela, Canal Point, and Diplomática. Regarding the latter one, the brand supports FUNDACAÑA Venezuela, a research and development foundation that granted the name “Diplomática” to a new variety of sugar cane developed after years of investigation.