zaya rum?

Zaya.
Anyone try this?
I sat with some liquor/wine distributors at dinner the other night and they were singing the praises of Zaya Rum.

Of course, Bacardi is their big seller so... you know.

While I was searching these archives and a couple of search engines I ran across this guy:

http://www.rum.cz/galery.htm

whoa.

[ Edited by: pablus on 2004-07-24 07:38 ]

been a fan of zaya for a while, definitely for drinking on its own. has a bit of a bite, with a nice honey finish. the initial description of guatamalan lava rocks and honey intrigued me. not necessarily the smoothist, but definitely unique. I reccomend it for the collection.

Pablus, I opened that site and the sheer number of countries is over-whelming.

Tanks tikithanked... errrr... switch that around.

I'll get some Zaya and throw it up against our current champion - Plantation.

I do so love rum tasting nights.

Pablus,
Which Plantation? The packaging is uniform, but I've seen several different origin countries and ages/vintages. Both bottles that I have are fab, though. Just wondering if you knew if there was any rhyme or reason to what they bring to market.

-JTD (Tom)

I love that about them.
It's almost like a winemaker who goes and gets the best shtuff for the bottle.

The last we had was from Trinidad and bottled in 1992.

Oh man -was it good.

I need to find out more about these guys.
A trip to the liquor store is hereby in order.

Beltramo's Liquors in Menlo Park, CA. has Zaya Grand Reserve 12 year for $33.00 a bottle. I didn't even know there was a Grand Reserve and since the regular is $40.00 at Bevmo, this is a real deal!!

We're gonna taste test it soon!

I just bought a bottle of the 'Reserva" and it is now my favorite rum. What sucks is it's one of the most expensive. Oh well, life's too short to bitch about it.
(Just shut up and drink it Unga)

I can pick up the Grand Reserve for $38 here in New Orleans. This is my new favorite rum and love it just by itself.

Forgive me for beating a dead horse from the crypt, but I was googling around for Zaya Rum and found this post on this forum and had to join and post on this topic...

My husband just bought me a bottle of Zaya Gran Reserva 12 yr old and I think it's the best drinking rum I've ever tasted. One swallow and your entire digestive tract screams "SMOOOOOOKE!" while your mouth goes "oooh...smooth". My father-in-law has worked with the Barcardi family and I've been priveldged to sample a wide range of their rums, including several family-only label rums....and this is the best sipping rum I've ever tasted. For the price, I'll gladly drink this as opposed to my favorite best sipping single malt scotch, Lagavulin, since this is 1/3 the price.

I agree with the review on boozereview.net: "If you ever see this stuff anywhere, buy two bottles. You'll drink the first one in a couple of nights because you'll be so amazed, but then you'll have a 2nd one you can save so you can be amazed again at a later time"

Damn right...I need to have a permanent back-up of this stuff...outstanding. =)

Zaya is like honey and is very hard to come by. It is a very very smooth rum and great late with camacho triple maduro. I haven't discovered a rum this smooth yet. Pyrat has a few that is close but nothing like it. Zaya is like a top level cognac.

Its like liquid candy.. the only rum i have found similarly smooth is Banks XM, but it doesn`t taste the same, Banks is a demerara.

I really like Zaya Rum...very smooth.
We've been keeping a list of the rums we've tried and this one is at the top of the list.
Of course, there are many, many, many more rums for us to try!

[ Edited by: CheekyGirl 2008-06-02 00:19 ]

Zaya is very comparable to the Ron Zacapa 23 in price and quality. I usually see them for around the same price ($35 - $40) and they are both great sippers.

I like the Zacapa 23 better than Zaya, but I have heard rumors that its price may be going up. If it does go much above the Zaya, I will probably make the switch.

I would also recommend the Vizcaya VXOP if you can find it, but it's usually a bit more expensive.

Zaya goes for about $27 a bottle here in Tucson, when you can find it. I know of a single bottle on the shelf anywhere right now. When bevmo opened, they had it on sale for $26, which is when I got my first taste. The stuff is incredible! Very, very good rum. I've not made a mixed drink out of it, but I can only imagine how good it would taste in a Mai Tai.

Chris

Zaya is by far my favorite sipping rum, but one of the few things that suck about living in Hawaii is finding a good selection of rum out here.

I only know of one store that sells it, and I have to cough up about $45-50 for a bottle, but its worth it!!

I have just started seeing it in a few restaurants. We have a mexican and cuban place that both have it for about $8 a drink. Rumfire in Waikiki also has it, and they charge $18 for 2 ounces!!!!!

You may hear this with dismay, Zaya is changing its formula, perhaps. The current Zaya, sourced from Botran Guatemalan rums will switch its bottling to rums from Trinidad. That will certainly change its taste. Please read these threads from The Ministry of Rum to see the whole story. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

http://www.ministryofrum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1632
http://www.ministryofrum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1445

Sob! That is really heart-breaking news. I absolutely love Zaya. I certainly wouldn't turn down the Zacapa 23, but Zaya is my favorite, hands down.

Thanks for letting us know, at least I know and can try to stock up a bit.

(And thanks for the reminder about the Ministry of Rum site in general - obviously I need to visit more!)

I read this info, and immediately put on my shoes and drove to the one store that I knew had a bottle of Zaya on the shelf. A mere $27.99 + tax later and it has since joined the many other bottles in my collection. And I'm now enjoying an ounce out of my previously opened bottle. Yum!

I bought a few bottles of Zaya at SAFEWAY, yesterday.

AND IT WAS ON SALE!

We spotted the new version of Zaya at the Mission Valley (San Diego) BevMo last night. Had to buy a bottle and do the taste taste.
My verdict - I'm glad I stocked up on the original. The new version is similar, but it's not the same. There's a very strong vanilla flavor - and scent - to it. We immediately noticed the scent opening the bottle. It's certainly not bad, but both of us sampling do prefer the old version.

The bottle looks pretty much identical, just that it says 'Imported Rum from Trinidad' rather than Guatemala. And it was the same price, just under $29.

I got a nice bottle of the 12 year from Trinadad for $25.00 @ my local liquor store. Very tasty, the tag reads:
Dark brown rum distilled from molasses. Aged 12 years in used whisky and bourbon barrels.
A fine example of an aged rum blended from rums aged in medium toasted oak barrels. Notes of vanilla, chocolate and coffee in a rich body with a smoky oak flavor in the finish.

You can buy Zaya Rum for $24.99 at Bevmo on sale. I am not sure if this is a good price or not. I bought one, my first bottle ever.

On 2012-06-09 18:55, hiltiki wrote:
You can buy Zaya Rum for $24.99 at Bevmo on sale. I am not sure if this is a good price or not. I bought one, my first bottle ever.

The Roseville Costco here in NorCal has it on sale for $16.99 a bottle.

I'm always whining about liquor costs in Canada, but this one is ridiculous! The cheapest I've seen it here is about $65! It's usually around $75-$80. For $16.99, I would smuggle in a full case!

Zaya Alert! Reno Nevada Costco has it @ $17.99. Snagged some,hope L A carries it.
At this price we were having some most excellent rum and cokes. Almost blasphemous.
Cheers

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2012-08-09 12:25 ]