. Another bottling from our Danish Friends 1423. This time I’m trying some single cask rum from Venezuela. I don’t think I have covered much cask strength Venezuelan rum over the years. I’ve extensively covered the more commercial Diageo puts out such as Cacique and Pampero.

I have also, of course reviewed the various Diplomatico offerings and Santa Teresa. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag. I don’t mind some of the younger rums for mixing and the some of the aged rum Santa Teresa 1796 and Pampero Anniversario Reserva Exclusiva I thoroughly enjoyed – and still do.

It’s easy to dismiss Spanish style “ron” as being heavily dosed light rubbish. Quite a lot is but there is some good stuff. I think you also have to take into account when you are reviewing rum what the producer has set out to do. There’s no point in my mind complaining about a Venezuelan rum not being funky because that’s never the intention.

Anyway let’s get some facts together about this rum. It is produced as Corporation Alcoholes del Caraibe S.A. Rums from this distillery are often noted as being from C.A.C.D. by independent bottlers. There are quite a few different bottlings around at the moment. The distillery is based in San Felipe, Yaracuy state. Apparently, the first mixing of Angostura’s formula for bitters was mixed here. The distillery produces the Cacique brand, which is popular in Spain.

This is a single cask which yielded 304 bottles. It is a column distilled rum and has been bottled at 55% ABV and non-chill filtered. The hydrometer shows no sign of “dosage”. It is available via Amazon in the UK for £89.99. I am unsure how long this was aged in Venezuela before coming to Europe.

In the glass the rum is a dark brown, with a red tinge around the edges. It’s likely been coloured but at the same time its a 12-year-old rum, bottled sometime in 2018.

The initial nosing reveals a lot of leather and some spicy woody notes and quite a bit of smoke.

Further nosing reveals dark chocolate, mixed nuts and some hints of raisin.

It reminds me quite a lot of Flor de Cana rums. It doesn’t blow you away in terms of the nose but everything is nicely in order and it smells “old” or mature.

The extra ABV compared to the standard 40% I have been used to certainly gives the rum a bit more oomph. It’s quite “hot” and boozy which I don’t at all mind!

Sipped at full strength the rum is initially quite smoky with notes of shoe leather, tobacco and some chocolate raisins. It has a slightly perfumed element to it which leads into a very spicy mid palate of ginger and chilli. Notes of black pepper also come into the mix.

Finish wise it has a very long, very full finish. This is very much a “cigar” kind of rum. It’s certainly not as sweet as some of the Venezuelan brands. The extra ABV of this has certainly allowed for a longer and more complex finish. Spicy woody notes mingle with ginger and nutmeg. Tobacco and leather add a smoky note and the rum slowly fades out very nicely. You can really take your time in between sips with this one.

As this is bottled at Cask Strength it gives the distillate a bit more room for manoeuvre. If you want to dial it down a little – you an and unlike the standard 40% ABV variants you won’t end up with something too weak and insipid.

This shows that not all column distilled Spanish style “rons” have to be sub-standard or follow the more popular path.

An interesting bottle and proof of what the producers in these countries could be coming out with – if they were a bit more daring.

Kudos to 1423 for seeing the potential with this one.