Ron Mulata de Cuba Anejo 7 Anos. Every Christmas discount supermarket Aldi get some “premum” rum in. In the past we have seen El Dorado 8 Year Old and their 15 Year Old, The Kraken and this year we got Pink Pigeon Spiced Rum from Mauritius and Ron Mulata de Cuba Anejo 7 Anos.

It’s quite an expensive business reviewing all this rum so I take any discounts I can get. When Aldi get rums in for Christmas time they usually come with a sizeable discount. Ron Mulata de Cuba isn’t as easily available in the UK as it is in mainland Europe (Spain and Germany in particular). The 7 year old usually retails at around the £25-30 mark. Aldi were selling it for £17.99.

Ron Mulata de Cuba Anejo 7 Anos is a traditional Cuban style rum. Ron Mulata is one of the latest rums to be launched in Cuba and does not have the long chequered history of the other Cuban rums mentioned above. However, there is little useful information available about this rum. It does appear that the rum was launched in 1993 and depending on who you believe, is now the second or third best selling rum in Cuba.

Ron Mulata is a joint venture between Distillerie Franciacorta and Tecnoazucar, the company that supplies 90% of all the Cuban rum.The Mulata range of rums stem from a base rum created by the master distillers or maestro roneros of Tecnoazucar, who use acquavite derived from only the best Cuban sugar cane syrup as a raw material. This rum is then matured in 180 litre American white oak barrels, a process that gives the final product a unique bouquet and light flavour.

The fifty year old distillery of Heriberto Duquesne is located in the central region of Cuba in Villa Clara. It has a capacity of 3,000,000 litres per year with several production lines and employs eighty workers. Distillerie Franciacorta was founded over a century ago by Luigi Gozio. It is still managed by his descendants and is one of the leading producers of Grappa in Italy.

In the glass Ron Mulata Anejo 7 Anos is a dark brown with orange flashes. Nosing Ron Mulata Anejo 7 Anos reveals a light, sweet spirit with a reasonable amount of smoky tobacco leaf and oak spices. It’s slightly sweeter and less tobacco forward than many Cuban rum. It’s nicely balanced and easy going.

Sipped the rum is not as sweet as the nice. It has a nice weight of oak and spices once again when sipped. A slight bitterness and notes of smoke and tobacco. It is a fairly uncomplicated affair. It doesn’t have a lot going on. What it does do it does reasonably well. I personally prefer this to Havana Club 7 Year. I really do not get on with the heavier tobacco notes with that rum.

As a mixer it works fairly well adding an nice smoothness. With a certain amount of lighter Latin style oak spice. Its not world class but its not terrible. At under £30 its not a bad price to pay if you want this style of rum. Personally the likes of Ron De Santiago and Ron Cubay kick it into touch but it isn’t a terrible drink. A light easy sipper but not one that is unpleasant. It’s just a little on the safe side and perhaps a touch boring. Not enough complexity despite its 7 years of ageing.

There are better Cuban rums – Ron de Santiago and Ron Cubay available at this price. This is less complex and a touch sweeter than those rums. I personally prefer this to Havana Club 7 Year Old – but its touch and go and I’m not that fussed on either in all honesty.