El Dorado Special Reserve 15-Year

Very smooth. Weak aroma. Not sweet. Good sipper. Good PQR.

Nice rum, quite like the 12yo but a little less sweet, less fruity and some more oak and caramel. Rich flavours, enjoyable drink

I haven't had the intention to make a vs. review, but it happened to have both bottles, so I decided to make some side-by-side testing.
It's also not quite fair towards Appleton as comparison with El Dorado 12, would probably have been more objective.

Color

Both AE & ED have an eye soothing copper color, although the AE is slightly lighter.

Winner: Both

Nose

AE: Molasses, oak, vanilla, ripe banana
Simply fabolous, and the best I have encountered.

ED: A very strong molasses, barely anything else. As for me, this is a major flaw.

Winner: AE

Palate / Finish

ES: Medium body. Dry oak, burnt wood, dry oak, oak, oak. Too much oak tannins which suffocate the rest - nutmeg, orange peel, almonds, with some alcohol burn in the end.

ED: Slightly sweet, spicy oak, caramel, tabacco. Complex and smooth with gentle vanilla finish which leaves the right sensation.

Winner: ED

Had this rum from Banks brewery when it was still named Demerara rum. After the river in Guyana. Great taste

Sampled at the Laka Lono Rum Club Tasting on 6/30/21. Pours brown in color. Seems like it is burned a bit. This is very good, but not smooth at all. Much hotter and out of balance compared to the 12. Has a big sweetness, but the charcoal is too strong. Unique in character for sure.

I couldn't make this a 9 or 10 because I enjoy smelling a rum before tasting and try to pick out what I will be tasting on my tongue shortly. So having read other reviews I was eagerly awaiting that first sniff, let it "breathe", and then bang, all I could smell was alcohol. I am used to an aged rum having had that strong alcohol aroma mellowed by oak barrel there by opening the delightful aromas of molasses, citrus, and other rum undertones. So I immediately took away two points at the first taste when my sinuses were immediately overwhelmed by alcohol fumes. Swishing gently in my mouth though, stopped the subtraction of points as the undertones of molasses, caramel, citrus and a hint of vanilla took over that first taste and the smoothness as it went down gave it an 8 for me.
All in all, I will drink it, I will proudly serve it to friends but will I spend $60 to buy another? No

This is the highest I've rated a rum so far in my journey and it richly deserves it. It has deliciously complex flavours and a luxuriant smoothness that makes it a perfect sipper; I wouldn't dare wreck such a good rum by hiding it in a cocktail but, hey, whatever tickles your pickle. Now, it's naturally more pricey than the also excellent 12 year version and availability varies like mad (here on the Canadian prairies) but I'll always keep an eye open to see if it's on the shelves. My goodness, it goes down so easily I could really get myself into trouble! ;-)

12-ročný El Dorado vo mne pred vyše rokom zanechal veľmi dobrý dojem, bol som preto zvedavý na mierne staršieho a o dosť drahšieho brata. Fľaša znovu tmavá a pekne tvarovaná, farba je o dva stupne tmavšia. Vôňa je dosť výrazná, koža, drevo a vanilka. Chuť je jemná a sladšia, hrá širokým spektrom tónov. Sú tu cítiť orechy, čokoláda, mentolky, lekvár, dub, možno trocha škorice. Vyhovuje mi plná chuť, zosilnená 43 percentami alkoholu, krásne sa rozpína ústnou dutinou. Poteší dostatočne dlhý záver. Tento rum je fakt krásne vychutený, z každého rožka troška, aj po viacerých pohárikoch mám dojem, že bude ešte dlho čo objavovať. Zatiaľ patrí k tomu najlepšiemu, čo som pil, pritom cena nie je nijak prehnaná. Nabetón pôjdem aj do staršieho 21-ročného, určite nesklame. Nedokážem ho žiaľ už vzhľadom k časovému odstupu porovnať s 12Y. Každopádne povinné čítanie pre každého rumana. Subjektívny rating silných 8, k vyššiemu mu chýba, resp. "vystáva", snáď len trochu vyššia hladina pridaného cukru.
37,-€

Picked up this rum yesterday and my wife was not too pleased at the cost. But what does she know? Maybe more than I thought. This is a very good rum.smooth , aged nicely, well balanced, but it is no zafra 21 master reserve or el pasador de oro gran reserve for less $$$. Maybe she knows more than I thought. Very good rum at not a very good price - almost $55. After trying it, it is sad to say but I have to agree with her. not worth the cost but certainly it is very good as are a lot of other rums for a fair amount less $$$.

Almost perfect, but can't give this more than 8 when you compare it with its older brother, the 21 year old El Dorado. Simply amazing and for the price it does not get much better than this!