Ron Zacapa Centenario Sistema Solera 23. This is one of the more popular ‘higher end’ rums that is pretty widely available on the market. It was my first ‘fancy’ rum and one that is often recommended to people venturing into rum and first entertaining the thought of rum as a sipper instead of just an ingredient in fruity sweet drinks. Just as it makes no sense for someone to swear off whiskey after some bad experiences with Fireball or swear off vodka after having a bad “birthday cake” vodka, one should not discount rum until they’ve properly given it a fair chance.

Ron Zacapa 23 is super smooth and delicious, and hence is a great introductory rum for those seeking beyond the marketing-contrived world of “dark rum” that’s ruled by Captain Morgan and Myer’s. “Dark rum”, which btw means absolutely nothing as a taste/flavor category since color manipulation (either adding or removing) is extremely common for rums in order to adjust flavor (i.e. spices, extra molasses/caramel, etc), mouthfeel/viscosity, or general appearance. Both the Captain and Myers are only lightly aged, if at all, and their dark color is due to the molasses and other flavorings/spices added back into the spirit after distillation. I won’t harp more on color here, but the Zacapa 23 will provide a much closer representation of an aged rum. It’s on the sweeter side for true rums (nothing compared to those spiced/flavored rums though!), and I wouldn’t read much into the 23 year number (more on rum age statements), but this is a gorgeous bottle and fine sipper to add to your (hopefully burgeoning) rum collection.