Ron Yacare is an Anejo (aged) rum from the Dominican Republic.  It has been difficult to find any information regarding this rum, mainly due to this being predominantly for the Spanish speaking market.

Ron Yacare from the information on the bottle is distributed by Carrefour Supermarket group.  I assume it is available in their stores, which are found mostly in France and Spain.  From web searches they also produce a Honey based Ron Miel and they have a Viejo and Reserva Exclusiva expression as well.  I think that Yacare is more of a brand name and I do not think all of the rums in their range come from the Dominican Republic.

My in laws actually got me this bottle after I had asked them simply to bring back something I hadn’t tried or something different.  The rum cost around 8 Euros which equates to just over £5 at the current exchange rate.  Spirits in Spain are a lot cheaper than the UK as they are not taxed as heavily. This is a 70cl bottle and the rum is 37.5% ABV.

Rum production in the Domincan Republic is big business with the three “B’s” – Bermudez, Brugal and Barceló dominating the market.  It is likely that this rum is produced by one of those (If indeed they all don’t come out of the same distillery).

A Yacare is actually a South American crocodile/alligator.  Despite that there is no crocodile or anything remotely connected to such a creature on the presentation.  Ron Yacare comes in a slighty dumpy almost stubby style bottle.  The Gold and Black colour scheme is both old fashioned and slightly contemporary.  The label is quite good but the black and gold bottle neck is dated.  The rum is sealed with a black plastic screw top which has a diffuser in the top.  For a supermarket rum its not bad at all.

My experience with Dominican rum is pretty limited.  I find by in large the Hispanic “rons” to be a little thin and one dimensional.  Fine as mixers but few have stood out beyond that.  By law Dominican Republic rum must be aged a minimum of 12 months.

Pouring out a small measure of Ron Yacare it is noted just how light this rum is.  It could probably be filtered to a white rum quite easily.  It’s a very light straw colour and is much lighter in the glass than in the bottle.

The nose is light and slightly floral.  Slightly sweet but more of a after shave/cologne like note rather than perfume.  It’s quite strong and the alcohol sits quite prominently.  From the nose I would be surprised if this rum was aged much more than the 12 month minium.  Which will also explain the light colour.

Sipping Ron Yacare is a so-so experience.  It’s initially quite sweet giving way to a kind of sharp taste of strong alcohol.  The finish is actually quite nice and the mouthfeel is not as harsh as I would expect.  It burns quite a lot in the throat but it very quickly subsides.  It leaves little behind.  There’s nothing really to recommend this as a sipper.

Ron Yacare Anejo is unsurprisingly best suited to long mixed drinks.  It’s agreeable and light profile means it can be mixed readily into most cocktails and hi balls without causing any issues.  As mentioned earlier the thinness and one dimensional notes I have found in many young Hispanic rums are ideally suited to creating decent if unremarkable standards such as Cuba Libre or a Mojito.

The rum in many ways could even be used as a Vodka substitute.  It doesn’t offer a great deal of flavour just a little sweet alcohol.  It mixes well and is surprisingly smooth.  This isn’t available in the UK but if it was readily available in the Supermarket I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up a bottle providing it was competitively priced circa £15.  I would much prefer this to the very thin and slightly salty Brugal Anejo.

Whilst the Ron Yacare is nothing outstanding it is certainly much more preferable than many of the Supermarket own brand “Caribbean” rums found in UK supermarkets.  I prefer this lighter style for mixed drinks than I do the cloying and sickly sweet profiles of some of the Dark rums on offer at Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc.

If you are in Spain and just after a competent little mixer you could do a lot worse than have a punt on this.