Cacique (which means leader of the tribe in Spanish) is the top selling rum brand in its homeland Venezuela.  This news may come as a surprise to those more familiar with Venezuelan rums such as Pampero and Diplomatico.  What shouldn’t come as any surprise is that Cacique has the marketing power of Diageo behind it.

Pampero, Diplomatico and Cacique are all distilled at Distilarias Unidas, S.A.  The major market for Cacique is actually Spain rather than its home country.  Rum especially less expensive gold mixing rum is very popular in Spain where it is commonly mixed with Cola.  Havana Club have even introduced a rum specifically for this purpose Ritual Cubano to the Spanish market.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that the rum I am reviewing was obtained in Spain.  Fresh from another holiday my colleague Craig Gabbatiss once again came up trumps for me with another bottle of unusual rum.  In Spain alcohol is much cheaper than most of Europe in particular the UK and Scandinavia.  A bottle of this Cacique when it was available via the Whisky Exchange retailed at just over £30.  Likewise the upgrade the Cacique 500 was £40.  The price in Spain was just under 15 Euro which equates to roughly just over £10.  Safe to say by any standards a rum at this price is certainly worth investigation!  To be fair if the rum was widely available in the UK I would expect it to be more in line with Pampero Anejo around £18-22

For a rum at such a price point you should expect some compromises.  The presentation, particularly the shape of the bottle and the way it is crafted is surprisingly good for what should be an entry level mixer.  It’s shape is unsual and it has Ron Anejo Superior etched on the front of the bottle.  It has a metallic screw cap but again it’s pretty decent quality and not cheap and nasty at all.  In terms of appeal on the shelf it would certainly have that amongst similarly priced rums.  It has quite a nice presentation and the Red Indian is explained by the fact Cacique means leader of the tribe.

So where might the rum compromise? Well for a start the rum is not 40% ABV it is 37.5% ABV which for me suggest supermarket economy own brand rum.  Very few commercially successful branded rums are bottled as low as this.  To be honest I don’t really notice a difference in a 40% and 37.5% rum when I’m just mixing them (liberally).  Note to producers – don’t think this gives you license to reduce the ABV!

Any information on the bottle is all written in Spanish – so I’m afraid I’m left with just getting on with reviewing the golden contents of the bottle!

Cacique Anejo Superior is a very bright and vibrant gold rum.  It is light and fragrant on the nose.  It reminds me a little of VAT19 or 1919 from Angostura.  However, the vanilla notes have more complexity behind them than those rums.  There is a little smoke and slightly tobacco like notes, hints of chocolate and perhaps a little nuttiness.  It is very similar to Pampero Reserva Exclusiva on the nose, though slightly muted.  It is not quite as deep and rich but has many similarities.  It may be similar to the regular Pampero Anejo but I don’t recall that having quite such a strong nose as this.

Comparisons to Pampero shouldn’t be a surprise after all this comes from the same distillery.  It’s a shame I don’t have the Pampero Anejo to hand to compare – would be interesting.

Sipping Cacique Anejo is a surprisingly decent experience.  It’s a lot sweeter than I was expecting especially on the entry.  This rum has “passed” the Hydrometer Test but I wouldn’t bet my house on there being no additives at all in this.  Vanilla and honey like sweetness with minimal burn on the finish.  I seem to remember reading this rum is 3 years old.  It seems smoother than it perhaps should be.

It’s not a very complex sipper other than sweet vanilla and brown sugar it doesn’t offer a great deal.  It doesn’t have a very long finish.  It’s smoothness kind of bothers me……

Mixing Cacique it is one of those rums that kind of smooth out the cola it is mixed with.  It almost smooths out the fizziness of the cola.  It works pretty much as it does as a sipper.  It’s an very easy going pleasant unchallenging drink.   Easy drinking.  If I could find this in the UK at around the £15-20 price mark I would certainly call on it from time to time on a Friday as a rum I wouldn’t expect to last till Monday.

Best way to describe this rum is slightly above average, when available at a reasonable price point but nothing to challenge rums in the next price bracket.  An easy going, mellow and pretty sweet gold mixer or a less interesting sipper.

Slightly above average.