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Selvarey White rum

Selvarey White

Panama | Light | 40% ABV

7.3/10
28 ratings
Recommendable to most
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28 Selvarey White Ratings

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Mujuru (BASIC) 🇺🇸 | 152 ratings
Posted over 3 years ago

So, originally I was looking for Cana Brava but all of the liquor stores in my city sold out and I can't order online just quite yet. So I took a chance on Selvarey White because I had read that it was a Don Pancho creation out of Panama. Thus far I have greatly enjoyed Don Pancho's creations so even though I have had a tortured history with white rums I decided to take a chance here..and oh boy am I glad I did. This is fantastic! I essentially needed a white rum for my cabinet for mixing purposes but was praying against all odds that I could find one I might be able to sip on...more on this later.

Selvarey states that it is a blend of copper still rums aged up to 5 years in bourbon casks. It is a Panamanian rum that is slightly off-white in color. It comes in a beautifully designed bottle that will add some fengshui to your cabinet...but that this is neither here nor there (I don't care that much what the bottle looks like if the contents inside are good).

Opening the bottle, pleasant and present notes of Vanilla, Lime, Lemon, and sugar cane juice waft gently in your nostrils. You can smell the alcohol but it is not overwhelming at all like it in in other white rums I have experienced. When the rum hits your tongue you immediately get a rather strong kick of vanilla which quickly dissipates into an exceedingly smooth mix of something like if you took a tiny shot of Limoncella and bit into a marshmallow at the same time - all while that vanilla is still lingering in the back of your throat. The aftertaste is hard to describe but it starts with Lemon with clear notes of sugar cane and morphs into Lemon Merengue. You can feel the alcohol a tiny bit but it is in no way overwhelming - more like it just lets you know that its there. The experience is far more pleasant than I ever expected from a white rum by orders of magnitude. If this is what Latin American style White Rum is capable of, then shame on those that produce fuel grade "rum".

To my very great surprise, this is most definitely a sipping rum and I will enjoy pouring this one for a sip right up there with my other aged rums. Now thats something I never thought I would say about a white rum. Of course, I then subsequently used it to make a fantastic mojito... but again to be abundantly clear you can and absolutely should sip this rum neat. Cheers to you Don Pancho for doing something that I had only hoped/dreamed was possible. At $20 a bottle this is a steal.

Final thoughts: if you think of Bacardi when you think of Latin American style white rum, then think again. Grab a bottle of this and let it show you how wrong you were.

Nose: Vanilla, Lime, Lemon, Raw Sugar Cane, subtle notes of alcohol
Palate: Vanilla, Limoncella, Marshmallows
Aftertaste: Lemon, Raw Sugar Cane, Lemon Merengue, Lemon Peel, slight burn

Nose: 9
Palate: 8
Aftertaste: 9
Smoothness: 8
Versatility: 10
Price: 9

Total: 8.8

Falcon91Wolvrn03 (PREMIUM) 🇺🇸 | 563 ratings
Posted 7 years ago

This is a really nice white rum. Smells and tastes of vanilla, powdered sugar, sugar cane, marshmallow, and a light peppery spice. Solid for a white rum, though I've rated a few even better as of this review (Banks 5-Island, Vizcaya Cristal, and Diplomatico Blanco).
.

Paul B (BASIC) 🇺🇸 | 472 ratings
Posted over 5 years ago

Since I have Don Pancho's Cana Brava 3 Year old White Rum rated at an 8, being the best white rum that I have ever tried, this Selva Rey White almost makes it to my rating of an 8. Don Pancho may have even used his own Cana Brava in this blend for all I know.

The company searched for two years to find the right distiller who could produce a white rum that can be enjoyed on the rocks. Mission accomplished, but it is also a great mixer as can be found by the many recipes on their website. I must also note that this is a blend of rums aged up to five years in bourbon barrels. So this means that this is really a dark or amber rum with colors removed by filtration just like Plantation 3-Star Artisinal. No wonder they both taste great!

Update October 2, 2018: I bought another bottle and also opened my last bottle of Cana Brava 3 Year white rum that I had been hoarding because it is so hard to get. It was time for a side by side neat taste test in Glencairn glasses. There is definitely some of the Cana Brava 3 in this Selvarey! However, the Selvarey has more subdued flavors whereas the Cana Brava flavors are strong enough to be in your face. I suggest to keep both on hand so that either one can suit whatever mood you happen to be in.

And now a word about the bottle design (that is different than the one pictured here). It ranks right up there with Brinley Gold Shipwreck for excessive height that will not fit on my shelves. Both bottles have to be stashed away in my cabinet with all of my unopened bottles. Then as I looked more closely, this bottle design is absolutely brilliant! The long skinny neck allows for the burliest of bartenders to easily grab it. The slender design of what is below the neck also allows for it to take up less precious shelf space in liquor stores. Bruno Mars is a one fourth owner of this company and their efforts of two years to find this perfect white rum from Panama have paid off.

Erik Marum (BASIC) 🇺🇸 | 42 ratings
Posted over 4 years ago

There is only one white rum I've come across that I will sip on the rocks and this is it. It has a wonderful flavor profile, with complex hints of coconut and aged rum flavors you normally find in rums from Barbados. As a mixer I don't think you can find a better rum. I started buying this when it went for $25, but now I see it going for $13.99 at total wine. Insane steal at that price.

frankypoo (BASIC) 🇺🇸 | 12 ratings
Posted almost 5 years ago

Bought a bottle at Bevmo. Sipped it neat with some friends and we all thought it was delicious. We then tried it next to Bacardi which is basically rubbing alcohol compared to selvarey. It makes a really perfect daiquiri too. Highly recommend.

SophisticatedDrinker (BASIC) 🇺🇸 | 3 ratings
Posted over 3 years ago

Like many of you, I was searching for a White Rum to sip neat or on the rocks and was consistently pretty disappointed. That is, until I stumbled on SelvaRey White Rum. On the nose, you do get some of the "heat" that is typical to White Rums, however, this is balanced nicely by a pleasant vanilla note and fresh citrus. I found that this "heat" isn't found on the palate as much, but instead a very soft mouthfeel that is almost velvety. There is an incredible note of lightly toasted marshmallow on the palate that must come from the aging process, which I read is 3-5 years in American White Oak. All in all, this is a fantastic White Rum sipper at a reasonable price.

Eviltwinshell (PREMIUM) 🇺🇸 | 27 ratings
Posted over 3 years ago

This is a smooth, tasty mixer. I like this as a versatile white rum for mixing - flavorful.

Scott spencer (BASIC) 🇺🇸 | 33 ratings
Posted almost 6 years ago

Wasnt expecting much from this one
Found it on clearence never had herd of it before but glad I bought
it bought for mixer but its good straight also.

Alas (BASIC) 🇵🇷 | 498 ratings
Posted 3 years ago

Like spotting a unicorn, it exists!!! A white rum you can sip and surprisingly enough A rum that I feel you could probably finish the bottle in 1 night with the right rum partner. So good neat can only imagine how much it would improve any cocktail. Heavy vanilla nose and maybe a banana or coconut finish? Something fruity for sure and just the right amount of subtle sweet.

SnappleBapple (BASIC) 🇺🇸 | 15 ratings
Posted over 3 years ago

Was able to find this bottle for $7 at WM. Took the gamble and was very surprised. Not an overwhelming sense of alcohol. Simple but few flavor notes. Very clean finish. Nice but faint after taste. Could be a value sipper. Will buy again.




Brand Details

Company: Selvarey
Name: White
ABV: 40%
Type: Light
Raw Material: Unknown
Process: Pure blend (1 distillery)
Distillation: Unknown

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