Dictador Best of 1979 41.8% ABV. A rum almost as old as my good self. Just a year out from my date of birth. Dictador have released a number of these “Best of” rums over the past couple of years. All with quite a lot of ageing to them. On the surface at least.

Dictador state that the “Best Of” series represent a selection from the best and oldest vintages from their collecfion. This collectionhas been developing for over 100 years – since the opening of their distillery in 1913.

There have been a number of “Best of 1979” releases of varying casks, over the past few years. This is one of the most recent bottlings and should you find this particular rum. Which has been aged for 39 years and bottled sometime in 2018, it will set you back around £300 perhaps more. Original retail at the Master of Malt for this bottling was £310. Some of the 1979 series have been cheaper but weren’t as long aged. Though still aged for well over 30 years. It has been bottled at 41.8% ABV. Very exact. Other 1979 bottlings have been noted as being from single cask and have yielded approximately 300 bottles. I cannot find any specific information for this edition, sadly.

I will be honest I only have a sample of this rum. I do not have the full bottle and I am struggling to find photos of the actual bottle. The handwritten labels don’t really help as I can’t quite decipher them. Anyway the photo above is roughly what it looks like.

I’m not going to worry too much about it to be honest.

Now whilst Dictador’s website states that the rum in the bottle, is all a full 39 years old – I have heard from some of their European contacts that not ALL the rum in the bottle is from 1979. It is actually a blend of older and younger rums. Again the website does note that some blending takes place but its not really specific.

Dictador have spoken before of their distillery and using Pot Stills to produce the rum. I’m extremely skeptical about this as no-one has seen the distillery. It is believed by many that their rum is actually imported into Colombia from neighbouring Panama (or even possibly Costa Rica). Again Dictador bottlings do not state the rum is distilled by Hernan Parra – he is merely noted as the Master Blender. Their rums do not taste at all like Pot Still rum to me.

It’s all a bit murky and along with the slightly strange profile of their rums Dictador are not a brand I care much for. Usually, their rums do not show additives as per the Hydrometer Test. This one actually does, showing around 15g/L of additives.

Anyway without further ado. As I am without any reliable information I may as well crack on and let you know what the rum is like!

In the glass we are presented with a very dark slightly viscous liquid.with a yellow/orange tinge around the edges.

On the nose we are in familiar Dictador territory. Coffee – and quite a lot of it. Only this time there is a heavy saccharin aroma, when nosing the rum. So its like a perfumed Coffee Liqueuer. Toffee, caramel and dark chocolate are also present along with some raisin notes. It’s all nice but there’s not very much oak and spice as a result of prolonged ageing evident.

Unfortunately the synthetic nature of this rums sweetness, is not very appealing to me. The notes above may seem pretty “classic” but believe me – they aren’t.

Sipping Dictador Best of 1979, isn’t anymore pleasant than the nose. The sweetness is less pronounced but it just tastes like young cheap alcohol mixed with some sugar syrup and some kind of coffee flavouring. It’s thin and slightly bitter – the oak spice what little there is just harsh and bitter. No balance to this rum it’s just a bit of a mess.

It’s thin and everything about it is very short. There is no real development beyond the initltial sweet confection. Maybe some bitter woody notes as mentioned but that’s it. The finish? There’s nothing there really . You sip it and it quickly just disappears. A slight alcohol burn but nothing much else.

The mouthfeel is so thin, it reminds me of a flavoured vodka. It’s kind of a bit like a Rum Drambuie. I don’t think anyone would pick this out as being a rum – unless they are familiar with Dictador.

This is really poor if we are being honest. It’s not a good example of a Spanish Style Ron.