Ron Aldea Maestro 2006. Ron Aldea are a rum producer from the Canary Island of La Palma. They have been producing rum since 1936. Originally based on the island of Gran Canaria, the concern moved to nearby La Palma in the 1950’s.
If you have ever travelled to the Canary or even the Balearic islands around Spain you will have come across Ron Aldea in the Duty Free. It is also present in most mainland Spanish Duty Free outlets. Quite often they have tasters available – which to be honest never exactly blew me away but we won’t pre-judge based on that.
Ron Aldea Maestro 2006 is a ten year old rum which was bottled in 2016. The rum is produced from locally grown sugar cane. It is a little bit odd to find that the producers own website does not even feature this particular rum. Indeed it is not even listed in the online shop, which is accessible via the company website. Instead they have the older 2001 Maestro for sale, at just under €30. Strange.
This rum is produced from sugar cane juice which is distilled in a double column copper still. The still is said to have been produced way back in 1893 and is the original still that they have always used in the production of Ron Aldea.
It is understood that the barrels used to age Ron Aldea Maestro 2006 are new rather than used American Oak Barrels. They are given a high level of toast before being filled with the Ron Aldea distillate. Whether “new” means new to Ron Aldea or new to having spirit aged in them – I am not entirely sure.
Ron Aldea is not really available in the UK – they do not seem to have a UK distributor. That said their rums are readily available in the EU. This 40% ABV 10 Year Old rum is available for around €40. Presentation wise it’s pretty good with the strong Ron Aldea branding and a very nice 3/4 size rounded bottle with a short neck. A synthetic cork stopper and a seal around the neck complete the presentation of the bottle. You also get a card box to store the rum which is nicely done as well. Ron Aldea Maestro 2006 is noted as being Limited Edtion towards the bottom of the label. A Limited rum of 9623 bottles.
There are surprisingly few reviews of this rum. I could only find one other review of this particular bottling over at the The Rum Howler (you may find his experience is a lot different to mine – thank god) and an earlier 10 year old rum review from Lance at The Lone Caner. That reviewe noted 22g/L as per Drecon for his bottling. Thankfully my reading of this bottling gave only 8g/L. Both reviews, gave me some information on the rum where the Ron Aldea website did not!
In the glass we have a dark brown spirit with a reddish hue. Nosing reveals a sweet light column distilled type of spirit. Very “Latin” in its style. The hydrometer reveals some additives but it isn’t as heavily dosed as the initial nosing might indicate.
The nose turns up little beyond sweetness really. It’s not hugely cloying but its all pretty boring. There’s a little oak and spice on the nose but it’s hard to detect and you have to really nose to get any of these aromas. It’s pretty flat and a bit like sugary, woody water.
Sipped it has a bit more going on. Quite a bit of oak and spice on the sip. It’s much more rummy than the nose might suggest. A little bit of ginger and some light baking spices. A dusting of shortbread and a little touch of Peanut M&M’s develop on the mid palate.
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offee and caramel are left behind on the sip alongside some peanut brittle. The finish is pretty low key, it does linger quite but it’s quite muted. It is mainly just a mix of toffee and ginger with some oaky spice. Unfortunately it’s all a little diluted and flat
It’s best described as okay. Average, little more. I wouldn’t pay a premium for what is a fairly boring and bland product. It’s not very exciting and I doubt anyone would get too carried away with this rum.
It’s a definite easy sipper, some may say it would make a good starter rum. I wouldn’t as it’s just bland and inoffensive.
As a mixer it does okay it makes a so-so rum and coke but it doesn’t have anywhere near enough character to make me want to use it for anything else.
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