Diplomático Rum

by Tobin Sharp

We had the opportunity to taste through Venezuela's Diplomático Rum lineup on Thursday, May 5th.  The Ambassador and Single Vintage 2002 were exquisite and the entire lineup was excellent; a rich, fairly sweet style of rum with excellent rounded viscosity, honeyed vanillins and varying degrees of depth and influence (depending on the type of barrels used for aging).  There is also much value to be found in the Añejo and Reserva Exclusiva bottlings and most surprising to me, as I hadn't tasted it before, was how great the Diplomático Blanco is.  This is a Blanco you can sip neat and enjoy with much more complexity that one would think could exist in a white rum-- it's aged six years and filtered 5 to 6 times to remove the color (but not the flavor!).

History:
Rum Diplomático was established in 1959 out of a partnership between Venezuela's best rum distilleries and Seagram's International and its Reserva Exclusiva formed part of their "Rare Rums of The Caribbean" collection.  After Seagram's sold the distilleries back to its Venezuela distillers and operators, Rum Diplomático continued to build on its past success.  In the 2000s, the line was extended to include an aged blanco, a two year añejo, an eight year reserva, along with, of course, the twelve year Reserva Exclusiva.  In the past ten years, Rum Diplomático has become the most awarded rum in the world, and its master distiller, Tito Cordero, is the only person to have wone "Master Blend of the Year" two time (2011, 2013) from London's Golden Rum Barrel Awards.  The Rum Diplomático distilleries were the first in Venezuela to be certified with ISO 14001 in recognition of its environmental initiatives.  In 2014, a Drinks International survey revealed the Rum Diplomático is the #1 Trendiest Rum in America's Hottest Bars.

Here's the lineup on our website: Diplomático

Añejo - aged 4 years, column still distillation process, with a Caribbean essence

Blanco - aged 6 years, white rum, filtered 5 to 6 times removing all color

Reserva - aged 8 years, batch distillation in small oak barrels

Reserva Exclusiva - aged 12 years, blend of copper pot still rums, 80% heavy rums and 20% light rums

Single Vintage 2002 - perfect blend from the year 2002, aged in American white oak barrels and finished in sherry casks, limited edition

Ambassador - aged minimum 12 years, 47% ABV, crafted from 100% heavy pot still rums