Opthimus 21 Solera

Rating: 17/23 This producer offers solera releases aged 15, 18, and 21 years, all sold at the same price here. This makes me question if the brand is bottling the same liquid under three different labels. Nose: Sweet and rum-like, very reminiscent of Diplomatico. It has fruit and a dry, woody character. My overall impression is sweet with this dry tartness. There's some enjoyable funkiness and complexity. Vanilla adds to the sweetness. It's a complex, sweet aroma that suggests significant age. The fruit notes are in the orange, grapefruit, and banana spectrum. As it rests in my glass, the wood develops a slight aged mustiness, similar to a bourbon older than 10 years. Hints of peanuts and peanut shells appear, but not prominently. I can discern a lot of complexity here, but it requires considerable effort. Oloroso: This contributes the dry tartness and also explains some of the nuttiness. I don't detect leather on the nose, and the lack of spices makes sense in this context. Palate: Sweet, light, a little thin, but not overly watery. There's a lot going on. I taste tropical fruits (banana, grapefruit, orange), nuttiness (peanut, but not very oily), tartness, and some mellow wood that seems quite mature. There's a light, natural-tasting caramel. The complexity and balance are quite good. While I don't have them side-by-side, I would lean towards calling this a slightly improved version of Plantation 20th Anniversary. Faint tannins; they are very soft. Finish: Nutty, woody, tart. Then a light vanilla sweetness. Very little tropical fruit at this stage. There wasn't ever a lot, but now there's almost none. - Conclusion - I truly enjoy this. I rated Plantation 20th Anniversary a 17, but I'm uncertain about that. This spirit isn't quite an 18, yet it surpasses Plantation 20th. A 15 is the lowest score I would consider for this, and I believe a 16 or 17 is more appropriate. That musty aged note hit me very late in the finish. I'm settling on a 17.

Plenty of caramel! A birthday gift, so someone must care about me!

Absolutely fantastic, drink it neat as intended.

A bit too spirited, with notes of raisins, vanilla, caramel, and barrel.

Tasted at a friend's place.