Ron Zacapa Centenario XO Solera (3. Edition)

Ron Zacapa Centenario XO Solera is the richer expression in the Zacapa range, made not from molasses but from miel de cana, the concentrated first press cane honey that gives the house its aromatic depth. It is matured through the Sistema Solera, a fractional blending system borrowed from sherry in which older and younger rums marry over time, at a cool high altitude cellar that slows maturation.

The solera designation refers to the system rather than a fixed age, and the result is deliberately smooth and dessert leaning. Expect butterscotch, caramel, vanilla and raisined dried fruit with a little roasted oak spice, all carried on a soft, sweet body. This is a sweetened rum and best enjoyed as one, comfort over complexity, a polished and gently spiced glass to round off an evening rather than a dry analytical sipper.