Ron Cartavio Solera 12 Years, hails like Paddington Bear from Peru. Whether it is deepest darkest Peru I am not quite sure but its definitely Peru.  Alongside Ron Cartavio sits Ron Millonario as Peru’s other notable rum.

Both rums are exported outside of Latin America and both Cartavio and Millonario are regularly available here in the UK.  I make no apologies for the title of this review – that is how the rum is labelled by the producers.  That is how I arrive at my titles, in an attempt to make things as clear as possible.  From a personal viewpoint I don’t think Solera 12 Years is clear in terms of the true age of this product.  Being honest its a crock of shit.

Over at Master of Malt who currently stock a 70cl bottle of this rum for £39.99 it is noted as being an “average” of 12 Years old.  Meaning there are rums older and younger in the blend.  I’m not sure where they got there information from as I’m struggling to find much written in English regarding this brand.

The rum I presume will be a light column distilled “Latin Style” rum.  There is sugar/additives added to this rum to the tune of 8 g/L which isn’t a huge amount but its there nonetheless.

The rum is nicely packaged the 12 years statement is a little misleading but overall its quite nice.  The tall thin bottle is topped with a cork stopper and it is definitely in keeping £35-55 “Premium” style rums such as Zacapa and Diplomatico.

Cartavio have a range of rums (some I believe have been discontinued/re-branded) from a basic Anejo rum – right up to their Cartavio XO.

Which is the brands flagship rum.  It has won numerous awards over the years.  This rum is quite high up in the Cartavio range but isn’t heralded quite as much as the XO.

With a lack of anything else any interest to say we may as well move onto the tasting…..

In the glass the Cartavio Solera 12 is a suspiciously dark rum.  A rich deep dark brown.  I suspect just a drop or two of Caramel Colouring. This again isn’t the biggest crime in rum but it is a talking point for some.

The nose is familiar.  A typical light Latin style rum.  Sweet, soft, approachable and for me a little bland and derivative.  Notes of sweet brown sugar and a touch of toffee.  I’m actually quite encouraged though by the amount of oak and spiciness which is breaking through the sweet overall top note.  The added sugar is not excessive and I still get a sense of actual rum rather than additive laden juice.

Sipped there is a faint vanilla and perhaps a slight touch of burnt banana, a hint of butterscotch and a little bit of sweet/sour bourbon esque notes.

Sipped Cartavio 12 Solera is actuallly a lot woodier than I was expecting.  It’s not sweet or cloying in any way.  It’s got a nice weight of oak and ageing to it which is not bad at all for a light Latin column distilled rum.

But its far from brilliant.  Whilst everything rubs along nicely and its very easy to drink its all a little straight forward.  Boring rather than bad but it really struggles to hold my interest.

It’s okay – nicely balanced with some nice drier spicier notes but its thin and a bit on the anemic size.  There’s no heft or beef to this rum.

Not unpleasant in anyway but at the same time not very exciting.  Reminds me of Barcelo products – okay but nothing to write home about.

Average and pretty dull. Forgettable.