Ron Colon Salvadoreno Coffee Infused High Proof Rum. I’ve got to say if I was going to introduce a rum brand to the market, I probably wouldn’t call it “Colon”. The meaning in English doesn’t really work that well.

Having said that in the current climate the fact was the Spanish name of Christopher Columbus – Cristobar Colon probably doesn’t help either…..This rum, however is named after the “Colon” which was used as the El Salvadorian currency from 1892 till 2001. When it was replaced by the US dollar.

This rum is produced at Licorera Cihuatan, not one of my favourite rum producers to date. Well I say the rum is produced at Licorera Cihuatan but that is not the full story regarding the rum contained in this bottle.

Ron Colon Salvadoreno is actually a blend of rums from El Salvador and Jamaica. The exact make up is as follows

6 year old column distilled rum from Licocera Cihuatan

Unaged pot still rum from Jamaica produced by Worthy Park, Hampden Estate and Monymusk.

3 year old pot still rum from Jamaica aged for 3 years from Worthy Park

All rums are aged at source (where applicable!)

Ron Colon Salvadoreno currently makes it way into Europe via Proofstrength BV in the Netherlands. The rum is bottled and I assume blended there as well.

The Coffee Infusion used in Ron Colon Salvadoreno is produced from bourbon coffee beans grown in El Salvador. The beans are then transported and roasted in North Carolina by Jags Head Coffee. The beans are given a medium roast before being cold macerated with the base Ron Colon Salvadoreno rum for a period of 48 hours. The rum is non-chill filtered to return the coffee oils and other flavours.

No sugar is added to this rum and I am also informed the base rum has no additives either.

Ron Colon Salvadoreno Coffee Infused High Proof Rum is bottled at 55.5% or 111 proof.

In terms of presentation the design evokes the old “colon” bills and you will also notice the wooden topped cork stopper has a silver “colon” coin in the top. I am informed these can be easily removed and collected – should you wish.

Ron Colon Salvadoreno Coffee Infused High Proof Rum comes in a tall, thin and very sleek opaque bottle. The presentation is sleek and modern but it lacks any meaningful information on the rum. It doesn’t mention anything about it containing Jamaican rum, for example.

In the UK you can currently pick up a 70cl bottle for £35.23 from Master of Malt.

So we’ve covered pretty much everything I can think of with this particular bottling, so lets see how it goes down. Should you seek more information then they have a very informative website.

I like coffee, well I much prefer it to tea at least. I also like chocolate, cola etc so the type of flavours I’m hoping to encounter with this flavoured rum shouldn’t be a problem for me.

If you don’t like coffee then I guess you’d probably stay away …….

On the nose, there is a unmistakable coffee aroma. Rich and very nice smelling coffee (even cold). It’s certainly not Mellow Birds that this has been infused with that’s for sure.

Alongside the coffee is a lovely note of quality dark chocolate, vanilla, black tea (oddly enough) and some less surprising cocoa nibs. There’s a fruitiness running through this and definitely doesn’t just taste like a cold coffee.

There is a trace of some gluey Jamaican rum and perhaps a tiny touch of Pineapple Juice and something a bit acidic but its very much in the background. Hard to really pick out. I might just be thinking its there because I know it is……

Sipped, it’s quite smooth and warming with quite an oily mouthfeel. It’s quite easy to sip on despite the ABV, even straight off the bat.

There’s a strong coffee and dark chocolate note on the initial entry but there is a definite “sharpness” to the rum. Some very definite notes of fermenting Pineapple, burnt banana and some sharp lime zest which cuts through it especially on the mid palate.

That said it doesn’t taste all that much like a Jamaican rum that has been infused with coffee. There is a mellower side to it from the El Savladorian rum in the blend. This mellow its out especially towards the finish.

It returns back to the coffee, dark chocolate and vanilla notes on the finish. It’s a nice lengthy finish and is very rich and warming.

At the price-point, I didn’t feel too guilty trying this with cola. It works very nicely rather than giving a “cold coffee” kind of flavour that I was expecting. It’s more dark chocolate and a kind of stoned fruits type of taste. It certainly lifts the cola. Beneath this you get a nice rummy hit as well which leads to a very pleasant long drink.

I would imagine that more skilled mixologists could probably find a host of other things to do with this.

That said I’ve thoroughly enjoyed what I have done with this particular infused/flavoured rum over the past few weeks.

Tasty stuff (if you like coffee).