Diplomatico Seleccion de Familia

Diplomatico Seleccion de Familia is a Venezuelan rum built in the Spanish tradition, where the spirit is kept relatively light and the barrel and blending do most of the talking. Destilerias Unidas blends both pot and column still rum here, which gives it a touch more body and structure than the brand's entry expressions, and it is pitched as the drier, more grown up sibling to the very sweet Reserva Exclusiva.

Expect vanilla, raisin and woody caramel with a brown sugar warmth, smooth and rounded in the way the style is loved for. It is bottled at 43% without the heavy dosage that defines many of its shelf mates, so while it remains soft and dessert leaning rather than bone dry, it carries more genuine oak and depth than most rums in its niche. An easy after dinner pour, good neat or lightly chilled, and a comfortable bridge for drinkers moving from sweeter rons toward something with more grip.