Santiago de Cuba Añejo

Nose: Sweet with prominent molasses and brown sugar. Some faint fruity notes (mainly banana) and a little caramel. Palate: Sweet and continues with the sugary notes from the nose. Finish: Short and sweet. A rather simple medium-dark rum that isn't really suitable for sipping neat – it's best as a mixer. However, with its very sweet profile, combining it with cola or fruit juice borders on being too sweet, almost sickeningly so. This is very inexpensive in Cuba and is one of the cheapest imported rums available in Australia. It's acceptable over lots of ice with soda, a dash of bitters, and a slice of lemon. It's essentially the rum equivalent of Johnnie Walker Red Label – acceptable when used correctly as a mixer. "Adequate": 72/100 (2 stars)

The aroma is odd, mostly alcohol with perhaps a faint trace of vanilla or molasses. The taste starts sweet, allowing the flavors of the aforementioned ingredients to come through. Might be suitable for blending.

Smells of sugar cane, wood, and some citrus, mostly lemon. The flavors are very similar. The wood becomes much more prominent. The aftertaste nicely picks up the sugar.

Simple aroma of cane rum, a little caramel, a little barrel. Excellent for this price point.

One of my top Cuban rums! Great flavor of caramel and bananas.