Dead Reckoning Venezuela 11.5 Years. If there is one particular “Rum Nation” that leaves me a little conflicted or is a “guilty pleasure”, it would have to be Venezuela.

Despite my “anti additives” stance, Pampero Aniversario Reserva Exclusiva and Santa Teresa 1796 were early favourites of mine. I’ve re-visited them since and I’m still quite fond of both.

I’m also partial to picking up a bottle of two of Cacique when I see it on holiday, usually in Spain. It’s cheap(ish) and is ideal for mixing and suits the holiday sunshine.

I know that particularly the higher end bottlings from Venezuela can have additives.I also note that they are column still “Spanish” style products. Often produced on huge industrial multi columns, rather than more artisinal Coffey Columns but I find them still to often retain some rum character. Unlike, for example A.H Riise, Don Papa and Bumbu..

I would also say the likes of Ron Millonario, Ron Cartavio and Ron Centenario are much worse culprits in the “Spanish Style”, especially when it comes to additives, than anything that comes out of Venezuela.

Apart from maybe…..Diplomatico. I guess that spoils my argument. Shame I was doing so well! Maybe that’s the exception that proves the rule?

You doth protest too much I hear you say!

Well for the purposes of this review, my protestations are a moot point. Dead Reckoning simply don’t do additives, so no such worries today.

Dead Reckoning Venezuela 11.5 Years is a unique bottling. I assumed that this rum would have come from either Destilerias Unidas S.A. (home of Diplomatico) or Corporation Alcoholes de Caribe (CADC), who produce bulk and rum for third party brands. These are the dominant distilleries when it comes to Independent bottlings.

However, Justin from Dead Reckoning has been able to obtain a rare and unique Single Cask from the Santa Teresa Hacienda.

Santa Teresa are famed for their Solera which works much like a Brandy Solera. So the rums produced by Santa Teresa are “mix/blend” of old and “less old” rums……They don’t use age statements.

With this rum we have a single cask which was aged for 8 Years at Santa Teresa Hacienda in an ex-Bourbon cask. I’m not sure if at any point this barrel was “topped” up as per the Solera. It was then shipped to Justin in Queensland, Australia to enjoy 3.5 years of “dry ageing” in an ex-Makers Mark cask.

Over this 3.5 year time period the 200l cask gave 25% of its liquid back to the Angels. This also increased the ABV in the barrel by 3%. Less water more rum! The final ABV comes in at a 50%.

The iniital release of this rum was in Australia and was faciliatated by The Rum Tribe. This allocation (162 bottles) sold out last month almost immediately upon release. It has been very well received.

Fortunately for us here in the UK/Europe and the US there are still 80 bottles which were kept aside (40 each) for these respective markets. The rum will be available in early 2026. The retail price has yet to be confirmed but Justin has advised it will not be as high as the Australian release.

So lets see what Dead Reckoning have in store for us this time around…………

In the glass we are presented with a dark brown liquid with a reddish/orange hue. Its very “rum” like. No sign of any colourings or any of that nonsense.

On the nose Dead Reckoning Venezuela 11.5 Years is a little “heavier” and less sweet than Santa Teresa 1796. For me it has a slightly sharper less sweet aroma. More Dark Chocolate and cocoa than the more floral and fruity notes you’ll find in Santa Teresa 1796.

Theres a lot of barrel influence with this rum. I think the best Spanish Style rums are the ones that are exposed to good ex-bourbon barrels. It’s safe to say that the distillate that comes off this type of multi columns – whilst not neutral isn’t as flavourful as most of the more traditional Caribbean islands offerings. So it needs those barrels…..

The barrel influence gives a lot of vanilla and which goes nicely alongside the dark chocolate and cocoa notes. There’s not a huge amount going on in terms of notes but its a nice warm inviting start to things.

Sipped the rum has a nice welcoming robust kick to it. It’s dry and there is a nice hit of the cocoa which is backed up with some vanilla and some spicy ginger notes. Some black pepper and maybe a touch of cardamon.

At first I was thinking this was heading more in the Pampero direction. Santa Teresa 1796 (from memory) has some sweeter wine barrels used in the ageing. Which give a much different profile to this rum.

The more I sip though the more I am noticing similarities to the aged rums from Nicaragua – Flor de Cana. Perhaps my other “outlier” in terms of my overall rum tastes lie with Flor de Cana 7 and 18. Note of caution avoid the 5 and the 12 which are incredibly bland for some reason.

Yes this is definitely where I am leaning to in terms of overall profile.

As we move towards the finish the mid palate becomes drier and I’m getting a little more leather like notes and wafts of tobacco. There is a tocuh of astringency/sharpness a bitter/sweet note which has a slight tang of gooseberry.

Finish Wise Dead Reckoning Venezuela 11.5 Years holds up really nicely. The dryness reveals some stoned dark fruits – touch of plum and a slight sharpness again. It’s long and very more-ish.

I’ve really enjoyed this and its re-inforces my belief that more drinkers should experiment and try things outside their comfort zone. Not be influenced so much by haveing one bad experience of one “type” of rum. I wonder how many people out there have dismissed Bacardi based on their Carta Blanca alone?

I bet its quite a few.

I’ll keep you all posted when this gets released in the UK/US. Should you wish to experiment…..I’d recommend doing so. Another very solid rum form Dead Reckoning.