Angel's Share Title
Ron Barcelo Gran Añejo Dark Series
The Barcelo rum distillery is based in the Dominican Republic and is the only carbon-neutral distillery on the island. They produce their rum line by fermenting fresh, pressed sugar cane juice and distilling it in column stills. For their “Dark” series, they age their rums for six years in heavily charred used bourbon barrels and blend them to 40% ABV to create the desired flavor profile. The 750 ml bottle is filled and packaged for international distribution at the distillery.
Barcelo Dark Rum
Appearance
The bottle’s shape is custom-designed and used for other Barcelo rums, with the exception that this one is opaque black glass. The front label provides a minimum amount of information about the rum, and the back covers the legal and retail obligations with the added carbon neutral seal. The bottle is sealed with a plastic screw cap that has the Barcelo logo on top. Removing it reveals a plastic diffuser at the top of the bottle. Due to the diffuser, it took several tries to get a decent sample to evaluate.
In the glass, the rum holds a dark golden amber color. Swirling the liquid creates a medium-sized band that releases several waves of legs before slowly evaporating, leaving a ring of pebbles and residue around the glass.
Nose
The initial aroma of the rum reminds me of cherry cola. As that note settled, I discovered notes of toffee, mocha, and orange peel, punctuated by fresh toasted tobacco leaf.
Palate
The rum has a gentle, smoky toffee entry that quickly passes, revealing a lightly astringent orange peel note mid-palate. As I continued to evaluate the spirit, I discovered notes of roasted walnuts, dried figs, raisins, and toasted tobacco leaf. These flavors lingered on the palate and slowly faded, revealing charred oak flavors that took over, forming a long, mineral rich, sweet finish.
Review
Over the past ten years, I have evaluated quite a few rums that are part of the Ron Barcelo line and find the portfolio provides a full range of flavorful rums, but unfortunately, their regular Gran Añejo did not hold up well when evaluated. I believe this was in part due to the way the company creates their rum products. During their distillation process, the company distills their liquid at such a high ABV that they depend heavily on the wood and the craftiness of their blenders to create the flavor profiles of their rum line. With the original Gran Añejo, the flavor profile was overly tannic but had little to offer beyond that. So, it was a pleasant surprise that I found that the Gran Añejo Dark is a flavorful experience that is superior to the original at every level and was interesting to evaluate. With this balance of flavors, I can see where this rum could easily be a workhorse product, replace their original Gran Añejo in a variety of cocktails, and hold its own as a sipping rum. The bottle and marketing material state this rum is part of a “Dark” series, which makes me hope that there are more products that use these heavily charred barrels in their blends.
