Ron Pampero Aniversario (Venezuela)

The first thing that attracted me to this rum was its unique presentation. A squat bottle in a leather pouch. It immediately gave me the idea that this rum must be something special if the makers have taken the time to create such special packaging. Outside the pouch Ron Pampero is dark mahogany and the label on the bottle is decorated with a medieval font, as is the typing on the leather pouch. The bottle also has a red plastic seal which bears the Pampero logo, a man on a horse. Inspecting the bottle closer I was disappointed to notice that the bottle I have doesn't bear a bottle number despite the many reviews that state it should. Perhaps this is a newer bottle and the makers have decided not to use bottle numbering anymore.

Once poured in the glass the mahogany nectar greets the nose with complex aromas, buttery toffee and a slight smell of glue or something chemical which masks the faint aromas of roasted nuts, you can barely notice it but it's there.

Rolling it over the tongue it feels extremely smooth and buttery, even more than the aroma to the nose. Tastes of wood, coffee and toffee appear. Though not featuring as distinctly as in the aroma, the toffee and nuts are still detectable in the flavour. Going down the throat it warms gently and leaves nutty and buttery aromas in the mouth. If you warm the rum properly the taste becomes even more pleasing and softer. The toffee flavour also becomes more apparent this way.

Despite the high quality of this product the cork, unfortunately, was not. The next time I pulled out the cork I noticed it left some unwanted pieces on the inside of the bottleneck which I carefully had to scrape out. The cork is real but it appears it has some kind of coating which comes off when coming into contact with the alcohol. Needless to say I had to replace the cork with a better one.

Nevertheless, Ron Pampero Aniversario Reserva Exclusiva is an excellent sipping rum and an instant favourite. Truly this is one of the smoothest rums I’ve ever had.