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Carúpano Reserva Six Year Old Especial
The Carúpano rum line is produced in Venezuela at the Hacienda Altamira, located in the Macarapana Valley. The company ages its rum in American oak barrels, aged for a specified time and then blended to proof by Carmen López de Bastidas, Venezuela’s only female master blender. The six year old rum is blended to 40% ABV using spring water located on the estate.
Carupano Rum
Appearance
The rum is packed in a standard-sized, medium necked 750 ml bottle. There is very little information about the company and the rum line on the labels. I had to get most of the information about this product from the distributor’s website. The rum in the bottle and glass has a bright amber color.
Agitating the liquid created a thick band that spun off fast moving legs. The band continued to thicken, dropping a second wave of legs, before finally evaporating, leaving a large band of residue behind.
Nose
The aroma of the rum delivers a sugary sweet caramel candy scent, balanced by salt brine, toasted wood, and pungent alcohol.
Palate
The flavors of the rum hit with a rush of molasses, raisins, sugared pineapple, dried bitter orange peel, toasted peanuts, an intense salinity note, along with astringent alcohol, prevails and dominates from the first sip to the salty-sweet finish. Several minutes after finishing the last sip, the nutty, salty notes still linger.
Review
I had seen Carúpano rums on the shelves of my local stores for a few months and finally decided to pick up the six-year-old rum to get an idea of what the product was about. While I found the rum interesting, the astringency and salinity, along with the citrus bitterness, were a bit off putting. These are the notes that any bartender will have to actively work around when handling this rum. Another factor that must be noted and considered is that during the evaluation, after the first sip, I detected residue on my teeth and tongue. Additional tactile testing confirmed my suspicions that additives were used to make this rum. While this is not a deal breaker for me as a reviewer, I still believe it was worthy of note for the reader. I will be curious to see how this rum changes as it ages, and what the flavor profiles are like for other rums in the portfolio. I will be sure to share them with you in future reviews.
