Pampero Blanco

Pampero Blanco is a Venezuelan white rum from Licorero del Centro, a molasses spirit drawn from both pot and column stills and bottled at a low 37.5%. It belongs to the light, clean end of the Spanish style, made as a mixing rum rather than a sipper, and it keeps things deliberately neutral and approachable.

The nose carries vanilla, papaya and a cakey note with a faintly synthetic edge, while the palate is thin and almost watery, with a sweet then dry impression and a caramel and syrupy lift before a light, slightly leathery finish. It is unsweetened, but the body is so light that there is little to hold onto neat. As a basic, low cost mixer it does the job in simple long drinks and cocktails, where its mild character disappears into the mix, though it offers little reward for sipping on its own.