This is already couple of days gone. Though I still need to write a short note about it:

The Ron Zacapa Master Class. I should actually shy away of all called master classes, when a brand ambassador is leading it. As Zacapa is one of my favorite rums, I thought it is worth a shot.

There was first of all a short introduction of rum. This was very sloppy;  circumnavigate all possible achievements of other rum brands.  As the time was very limited though, it was forgivable.

Then there was the first major flaw: the brand ambassador went over aguardiente to the “fact” that most rums of the world are unaged. This was the first time, I took on the challenge and argued with him. Unaged rum - especially from molasses? Well, this is very unlikely! Only the regional limited aguardiente are usually unaged. Though international available ron [the Spanish expression of typically molasses rum] are oak aged. And in most countries a minimum age of 6 month [e.g. Guatemala] over 1 year [e.g. Puerto Rico] up to 2 years is the requirement to call it rum!

There was also a little dispute about the designation of Solera X years.

I absolutely don’t like it - and I consider it as customer deception, when producer using the solera ages on their products. Especially if it has not much to do with the traditional solera system.

Ron Zacapa Solera 23 is not minimum aged 23 years - nor it has the average age of 23. It is a blend of 5 till 23 years old rum. So they call it 23 years - though only the oldest part [which is considerably small] is 23 years old! Not really a high ethic business practice.

We were told about the unique sugar cane, which is pressed and that the juice is just concentrated to a sugar cane honey. And about the fermentation, which takes as long as one week [longer fermentation leads to heavier spirits] in wooden vats; with a specific yeast. Nothing really exciting for me...

Interesting was, that they use and array of completely different barrels for the aging. And besides the fact, that they use the sugar cane honey, the unique aging is the most important part, which makes Ron Zacapa this high quality!

First the aging facilities are in the highlands as high as 2300 meters. This has definitely an impact in the rum.. I am not sure, what influence the different air pressure and the less oxygen has on the ron.  What I know is, that the short transportation has an impact [the spirit has much more contact with the barrels, as it just lies in a warehouse] - besides of that, the cooler temperature allow less angle share, which is better for the producer - though maybe not that good for us...

First step of aging: They use original Bourbon barrels. No treatment, just the pre_bourbon_filled American white oak barrel.

Second step: Re-Charred Bourbon barrels. The American distilleries of course are also charring their barrels. But most of the developed wood sugars are absorbed by the bourbon]. Another charring means, that there are more wood sugars, the rum can absorb.

Third step: Sherry Butts. I think these were Amontillado - or were they Olorosso? I will update as soon as I have respective information. Fact is: these are dry sherry barrels. We know from the malt whisky production, that wine barrels have a huge impact on alcohol.

Fourth step: P.X. Sherry Butts. Pedro Ximenez is the sweet grape variety in sherry production. Its taste of damson cheese, cocoa, raisins is legendary. This can be found as well in Ron Zacapa.

The last step for the XO: Cognac barrels. Well I tried some whisk{e}ys aged in Cognac - and I could not find a big difference - though usually they are quite balanced.

You can imagine now, why Ron Zacapa is so expensive. Sherry and Cognac butts are expensive - by comparison to Bourbon barrels. Further the transport, the blending / filling needs a lot of man power.

At the end stood the tasting.Unfortunately we could not taste the Solera 15. I never tried this - though it is also not available in Dubai - a shame!

Again I had to wonder about the glass choice: the Solera 23 was served in a tulip shaped tumbler, though the XO in a nosing glass. If you compare two spirits, they should be in the same glass!

Anyway - the 23 was as expected: superior and beautiful, elegant as expressive! Playful raisin aromas were dancing with chocolate, though also flowery notes - maybe some elderflowers... but the best: it still has enough rum character; these specific ester resin reminders. Fantastic rum!

The XO was quite muted. It doesn’t have as much playful and expression as the Solera 23. The main character is cocoa powder. To try it on its own, it is as impressive as the little brother - though in comparison it is not as superior.

The brand ambassador pointed again out, that the XO is targeted to cognac drinkers and cigar smokers. That is not right. Only the fancy cognac bottles and the XO supplement would convince some cognac drinkers.

Though the brandy from the charente region has a lot more character and keeps its racy even if it becomes very old.

Race you can find in the 23 Solera, but not in the XO! This given plus the almost 50% higher price tag would make the XO an uninteresting buy.

At the end I could learn again something. The unique barrel aging was very interesting! And I’ve confirmed that it is quite moronic, to spend the extra money on the XO, as it is far less interesting as the Solera 23 años.

And I learned that brand ambassadors are always annoying [in master classes] - and that for me it would be much better,  just to get a handout!

But why didn’t we got any handouts???