Notes: Ron del Barrilito is one of the oldest Puerto Rican rum brands, founded in 1880. Don Q Serrales rum, founded in 1865, is 15 years older,
Their rum is aged in an ex-Oloroso sherry cask made of white oak. No artificial color, caramel, sugars, or other additives are used. They also use rainwater ( highly filtered but otherwise left alone) for their rum production. They also practice biodiversity by growing fruit trees on their property and donating the fruit to worthy causes and their workers. Overall, it is a socially laudable distillery that produces excellent rum ( neither of which could be said about the shall we say, other ( and former ) Puerto Rican rum distillery.

The rum is aged in 500 liter sherry casks from Jerez Spain after being infused with a mixture of herbs and spices. While it ( to me) does not fall under the ‘Spiced’ category of rum ( I shudder at the memory of most of those horrors), it is not a just sugar cane distillate type of taste.It is to create a new term responsibly ( and reasonably spiced to enhance and nuance the rum, not cover up egregiously faulty rum for the masses.

This distillery produces several rums, including the Two Star (a three- to five-year blend), the Three Star (a six- to ten-year blend), the Four Star ( up to twenty-year blend), and the Five Star ( up to thirty-five-year blend). There is also a P.F.Selection II Pedro Fernandez Selection, a single-barrel edition from a 27-year-old cask that is only available at their visitors center. We hope to fill in the blanks in our reviews at some future date.

Appearance: Faultlessly clear, a very respectable dark bronze in color, showing the influence of the oloroso sherry and years of aging. It coats the glass with a light to medium coat on swirling with a lot of skinny legs forming fairly rapidly.

First Impression: Almonds or cashews, oily nuts deeper than macadamia, fruits, banana, papaya, Spanish brandy, and sherry notes, with an overlay of marzipan and vanilla notes.

Taste: It has a deliciously oily entry, sweet and then drying, with a heavy sherry influence that moderates the sweetness of the rum. It is a nice blend of dry, sweet, aromatic, and spicy.

Drinks: An outstanding mixing rum for both taste and flexibility, A great go to as an overall mixing choice for most applications really. There is enough punch/flavor to stand up to most ingredients, but it integrates and mixes well. Clean, honest flavors that neither fade nor overwhelm a cocktail.

Bottle: Classic Puerto Rican rum bottle lines very similar to a European brandy botle.It has a nice grade of clear, bright glass and a cork closure, which gives it a classic, premium, old school( your choice) feel to the bottle and the sound and feel of opening something good, not some cheap generic closure that will leak or pollute the environment later

Other: Puerto Rican rum suffered from aggressive over-exposure by a now no-longer Puerto Rican rum brand, much in the same way that Grey Goose dominated and diminished vodka. I am personally glad to see that Ron del Barrilito is still flying the true flag of Puerto Rican rum!

Final Thoughts: A very much overshadowed style of Puerto Rican rum. It has always been one of my favorites as a casual rum to be enjoyed and not over-analyzed and argued over, as many rums are in rum snob circles lately. A good solid rum that can be enjoyed on its own or made in to a well-balanced cocktail.

Website: www.https://rondelbarrelito.com

It’s colorful, fast-loading, and somewhat informative. It provides good basic information on the line-up, who and what they are, but it’s a little light on the production details. I hope to clear that up sometime and also review some of their other rums.