Ron Cristobal Nina 8-12 Y.O. Here we have another Premium Rum from the Dominican Republic. Home of Brugal, Barceló and Bermudez rums.

There are currently two rums in the Ron Cristobal range – this the “Premium” version and Ron Cristobal Pinta which is a rum blend aged between 6-8 years.

So who is this Ron Cristobal bloke? Well it’s actually Christopher Colombus the famouse explorer. Nina was one of his first ships he used when discovering the West Indies and beyond.

As mentioned already Ron Cristobal Nina hails from the Dominican Republic. Columbus originally “discovered” this island (which is now split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and called it Hispaniola. There is indeed still a rum brand which uses this name.

Ron Cristobal Nina is a column distilled rum made from freshly pressed sugar cane juice at Alcoholes Finos Dominicanos. The rum in this blend has been aged between 8 and 12 years and has been Tropically aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

Currently this rum is available mostly in Denmark, though it is appear

ing in more stores in mainland Europe. I have yet to see the brand for sale in the UK or the US.

Presentation wise it everything you might expect – stamp/historical painting style portrait of our protaganist and a nice little story on the back. The bottle is tall and seek and comes with a nice corks stopper. You get a nice cylinder to keep the rum safe.

Ron Cristobal Nina retails at around €45 for a 70cl bottled at 40% ABV.

In the glass we have a dark brown spirit with little by way of a red or orange hue. It looks a little dull and washed out. I wonder if that has anything to do with the 40g/L plus of undisclosed additives? Hmmmmmm

Nosed the rum is very light with traces of sugar cane and toffee. It’s pretty tame really and doesn’t seem to have a great deal going on. Pretty thin column distillate. Nothing too exciting. Dull, drab, grey much like January……..

Further nosing reveals some light vanilla and some white chocolate. To be fair I’m straining to really get much from this rum beyond sugary water. Sugar syrup. Anything else is very, very faint. It’s almost as if the rum has given up and is just letting itself be buggered by all the sugar and additives.

Sipped it has little real character. Certainly no burn or spice. It’s very easy to sip but it is insipid. Boring, dull and frankly just bland. I barely feel like I am drinking a 40% spirit. It all just tastes like sugary water. Sugary tea without the tea. Rum without the Rum.

The initial sip is sweet and has a little bit of ginger and a tiny hint of oak spice but it quickly disappears. There is little to no mid palate or finish. It tingles gently on the tongue but it’s barely even there really.

Other Dominican Rum such as Kirk and Sweeney and Relicario offer a lot more than this, to be fair. I don’t particularly rate those two either. They’re a marked improvement on this shit though.

In terms of “rumminess” this scores pretty low. There is next to no character with this spirit and I’m completely bored sipping it.

It’s pretty rubbish all said. No doubt it will sell by the truckload……..there are already favourable reviews from the usual suspects and at Rum Ratings. It’s dead smooth? Oh Fuck off please.

I despair sometimes. Did the Rum World really need another sweetened Dominican rum?

1 star