Bacardi Gran Reserva Diez 10 Year

Anyone try this Bacardi rum yet? I'm thinking of getting a bottle. I keep seeing Bacardi products featured in Liquor.com Pro Edition emails. Yes, the folks at Liquor.com seem to really love Bacardi and seem to have a close affiliation with them - lots of Bacardi-provided articles appear on Liquor.com, and this is just one more. And yes, some of Bacardi's products are really worth our attention. But has anyone bought and tasted and cocktail-tested this 10 year rum? The article does advocate good rum as something you should sip, and I think most would agree. (Pampero Aniversario, anyone?)

I saw Mike's earlier post about Bacardi Gran Reserva, and this rum is similar but with a 10 year age statement. My problem, and the reason I'm not excited, is that there are so many options for those of us who have experimented with a number of brands and styles of rum. So I really don't want to miss out on something which may be very cool. But I'm not actively researching new rums for my bar right now.

Pics below include some general pricing. Then the write-up from Bacardi. I wonder how much free rum shows up at the offices of Liquor.com, hahaha... Good for them.

Intro: This Premium Rum Doesn’t Need A Mixer

Some rum is too good to be featured in cocktails. BACARDÍ Gran Reserva Diez should be sipped straight, so there’s nothing to distract from the nuances of this premium aged rum. Discover why this is the right bottle for anyone looking to deepen their understanding and appreciation of rum as a whole.

WHERE TO START WITH SIPPING RUM
Presented by BACARDĺ

Contributed by Liquor.com Staff
Posted on Sep 01, 2018

Tropical cocktails are pretty much the most popular way to drink rum. That’s perfectly acceptable, but why limit yourself to a mixed cocktail?

You should be sipping aged rum and appreciating all the nuances it offers. But navigating the category and all its different expressions can sometimes be as complex as a premium aged rum’s flavor profile.

Keep it simple by starting with a product that sums up everything there is to love about aged rum: BACARDÍ Gran Reserva Diez.

It’s a standout aged rum because it has a subtle and luxurious flavor profile, with a perfect balance of caramelized vanilla, oak, banana, pear and melon in every sip. That alone is not what makes it an ideal sipping rum.

BACARDÍ Gran Reserva Diez is the right introduction because it has everything experts look for in aged rum.

For instance, Gran Reserva Diez gets its irresistible flavor from being aged under the Caribbean sun for a minimum of ten years. That may not seem all that long, at least if you’re using scotch as a reference point. But the number printed on a bottle can be deceiving.

Location and climate influence rum’s maturation process as much as time does. The warm Caribbean climate speeds up evaporation, resulting in 8 to 10 percent of the liquid being lost to the angel share every year. By comparison, that number would hover around 2 or 3 percent if the same rum were aged in Scotland.

This is why rum experts aren’t satisfied with knowing how long a rum has been aged. They need to know where it’s aged to really understand its true maturation level. The investigation continues from there, examining what kind of wood is used in the barrels and whether or not the aging process was continuous.

The best rums, like BACARDÍ Gran Reserva Diez, can stand up to this level of scrutiny. In fact, understanding what goes into each bottle will help you better appreciate the aged rum.

Don’t hide that history and flavor in a sugary cocktail. Grab a bottle and start sipping today.

I've been curious about it as well. While a lot of Bacardi rums are "meh" some are not (Heritage white, 8 y.o.) and this SEEMS to be along the lines of the 8 year old. Would love to see any feedback from any of the assembled...