Flor de Cana Rum Tasting
May 3rd, 2009While passing through Panama’s very pleasant airport en route from Haiti to Guatemala I picked up a sample pack of Nicaragua’s Flor de Cana rum. While I had heard lots of good things about this rum I had never really tried it.
I have to be honest and say this rum did not exactly grab me. Mind you, I do not have anything very bad to say about it either. Flor de Cana make nice smooth rums. I just do not find them especially interesting.
Flor de Cana Extra Dry (4 year old rum at 40%): Light, dry, honeyish nose. Tasting reveals a pleasant, somewhat honeyish rum. There seems to be a faint hint of chocolate. Despite the honeyish profile this rum is not cloyingly sweet. There is a little burn, but I would consider it a smooth rum. While this rum goes down quite nicely I get an odd plastic note I do not much care for - this flavor seems to hang around in the background of both the nose and the taste. Overall, a smooth, unexciting mixing rum that is not offensive when taken straight.
Flor de Cana Gold (4 year old rum at 40%): Similar honeyish nose to the Extra Dry. The palate is a little sweeter than the extra dry, the honey is stronger, and there seems to be a faint hint of caramel. Unfortunately I also get an unpleasant suggestion of something astringent, on top of the same plastic note I got from the Extra Dry. I like this less than the Extra Dry and would not want to drink it unmixed. However, it mixes smoothly enough with coke.
Flor de Cana Black Label (5 year old rum at 40%): The same honey nose as above, but more intense and now carrying light floral notes. The palate is significantly smoother and fuller than the two younger rums. There is a fairly deep honey flavor, along with a hint of sharpness, and a suggestion of some kind of blossom - maybe orange blossom. I get a hint of the plasticiness I found in the two younger rums, but it is no longer distracting. This would make a flavorsome mixing rum.
Flor de Cana Grand Reserve (7 year old rum at 40%): Rich honey nose with an underlying spiciness, perhaps wild honey rather than generic mass-produced honey. The palate is full-flavored honey, with a rich toffee undercurrent. These smooth sweet tastes share the stage with some spicy, woody and vanilla notes. While the rum itself is not especially syrupy, flavorwise it is all about sweet and simple tastes - basically there is not that much going on. Incidentally, the plasticy note from the younger rums is gone. This rum strikes me as too boring to sip, but it could work for those who appreciate subtlety. As a mixer this stuff is clearly quality. Save it for drinks that will show up its rich smoothness. This rum makes a great rum and coke for those times when you want something smooth. Go easy when pouring the coke though since rum this smooth and mellow can easily get lost.
Flor de Cana Centenario (12 year old rum at 40%): This rum was not part of my airport sample pack. I tried it a couple of times in a bar in Antigua. Unlike with the above rums I never did a side-by-side comparison. In any case, the Centenario did not strike me as that much of a step up from the Grand Reserve. This is another rich, smooth, honeyish rum. Alongside the honey I got a little spice and woodiness, but there were not exactly layers upon layers of flavor to explore. I need to try this rum again. However, I think I will end up rating it similarly to the Grand Reserve - i.e. a sipper for people who appreciate subtlety and prefer a mainstream and inoffensive taste, and perhaps a high quality mixer for drinks that show off the rum.
My conclusion? I would be pleased to find the Flor de Cana rums at hand, but I would not make too much effort to seek them out. I do not find them interesting sipping rums, but they all make for a pleasant rum and coke in which rummy richness replaces rummy bite. As mixing rums, the longer aged offerings would work well in rum-heavy drinks that require smoothness and silkiness. I can see the Black Label or Grand Reserve making a great El Presidente. I usually prefer more assertive rums, but Flor de Cana could work on when something smooth, rich, and undemanding is required.







