Zacapa rum tasting

Today was the tasting for the press of Zacapa 23 and Zacapa XO, presented by Zacapas Nordic brand manager Rasmus. Rasmus featured many interesting facts about Guatemala, rum history and Zacapa.

Facts

Most interesting was obviously how and where Zacapa was manufactured and stored. Zacapa is a Guatemalan city that was founded in 1876 and Zacapa 23 was created on the city’s 100th anniversary, in 1976, to celebrate this. Since then Zacapa 23 has been chosen for the world’s best rum 5 years in a row, and thus you can say that the female master blender Lorena Vasques ampie, succeeded quite well with her celebration rum.

Three different species of sugar cane are used and they are grown in the area around the town of Zacapa. The ribbons around Zacapa bottles are hand-made one by one - and on the inside of each ribbon is a stamp that indicates who made that particular ribbon (check your own bottle!).

The house above the clouds

All the barrels are stored in a large cave at 2333 meters altitude in what is called “The house above the clouds”. The cave now contains more than 250,000 barrels of 200 liters that is moved around, blended and bottled between different barrels according to the Solera method. Interestingly enough, they use a column still to distill the wash of the sugarcane juice. Column still distiliiation normally produces a very pure spirits which contain few residues and thus less tastes. To retain much flavors a copper pot still is normally used instead. This results in a less efficient distillation but you get a stronger and deeper flavor. Zacapa claims to have solved this using a column still with over 20 layers which will retain more flavor. Another interesting thing is that Zacapa is a rhum agricole, ie it is made from sugar cane juice and not molasses (which is more common). This is the same method that is used for rums from Martinique and are often sharp and crisp. But who would say Zacapa is a sharp rum?! Rather, Zacapa rums are known for its extreme smoothness and are a good way for newbies to get into the world of rum.

Age

Zacapa 23 contains rum stored between 6 and 23 years. It is smooth, honey-sweet and slightly viscous. Zacapa XO rum contains between 6 and 25 years, but where the rum for the last 2 years have been aged in barrels previously used for cognac, evident in the taste. Even the bottle flirts with the world of cognac. This rum tastes more like cognac: stronger, darker and more heat. Very easy to love for those who are from whiskey or cognac world.

Combinations with food

We also tried some new fun combos with food, such as sushi. Maybe not amazing - but certainly new. We also tried it together with a chocolate cake - fit like a glove. And finally, with dark chocolate - classic combo.

Cocktails

We also tested a couple of drinks mixed with Zacapa. Nothing wrong with it - it’s much better than to mix with non-aged rum. But the question is how much Zacapa flavor remains after pouring in the sugar and the lime?