Looking for a good "sipper"

Plantation 20th Anniversary comes to mind. Also Vizcaya VXOP, Kirk & Sweeney 23, Plantation Jamaica 2001, Thomas Tew Authentic, Zafra Master Reserve 21, Ron Medellin Gran Reserva 12-Year, El Dorado 21.

I would also agree that Plantation 20 is definitely one to purchase if you can find it. Also any Kirk & Sweeneys and Kaniche XO.

I recommend the Ron Centenario 20-Year. It's the only rum I've rated a "10" that's under $50.

Dictador 20 year is fantastic

Any feedback on the Ron Centenario 20 vs the 25? Is there a noticeable difference?

Hi Chris, I Just bought my second bottle of centenario 20y. I can really recommend this one. Realise that the 25y is almost twice the price. Trust me that you can't go wrong with the 20y. It's an outstanding rum and payed around 45 euros here in Holland. Plantation XO is also a killer-rum. If you got enough to spend go for zacapa XO or rum nation panama 21y. Good luck!!!

Ditto for Plantation XO. A recent discovery and what a find! The price is right, too. About $50 in the Memphis market.

There's a disconnect here. The gentleman asked for "a good sipping rum". But that begs the question: does he mean a real, pure, honest, complex, legal and unadulterated rum - a true "rum"? Or a tricked up, secretly altered one, with secret added sugar, flavoring, etc? The former is what most real rum afficianados - like whisky lovers - want. The latter is so altered and adulterated that they have unrealistic profiles, and are actually flavored, liqueurlike sugar bombs. Perhaps this may help: Don Q's (all) - no real sugar added. Real, legal and pure. Centenarios - the "older", the more sugared Zacapa's -very heavily sugared. Plantations - heavily sugared, avg around 20g/liter Zafra - untested, but reviews suggest sugaring Tew - pure Dictadors - mostly pure Rum Nation Panama - heavily sugared, like Plantation Kirk - low sugar, but lots of added vanilla flavoring noted Vizcaya - heavily sugared Medellin - fairly pure Kaniche's - sugared Frankly, it would be hard not to recommend any of the Seale's products, all of which are scrupulously pure, and whose age statements are actually accurate. Best of all, they are very affordable. Try the Doorly's - any, the Seales 10 for starters, from $15 to $25.

Oops... Should add that the Dorado 21 (and any of their other allegedly aged rums (eg the 12 and 15) are all heavily sugared and thus are smothered by sugar.

No disrespect intended here, but just maybe some of us actually like a so-called "sweetened" libation. Today, I got to taste a new Glenmorangie....will sell it in my store for $250. Yea, it was tasty but $250?????? Good grief man, shouldn't ALL $250/750ml beverages taste "good"? This is what has attracted me to rum. Yea some are sweeter than others but so friggin' what? I am so damned burnt out on the whisky trend............for God's Sakes even generic Old Charter is being allocated!!!! Really????? Don't even bring up the WL Weller bullshit. Hell, just a short 3 years ago we had Pappy (all bottlings) collecting dust in the store. Now, the crap fetches 10 times what it is actually worth. I am into rums because they give me the best bang for the buck. Period.. Until last night, I was in love with Plantation XO but after having a couple snifters of Mount Gay XO I have to admit that Plantation just might have a "sleeping partner".... .

Dear Chris, don`t let yourself be discureged by capt. jimbo. People drink rum because they like the sweetness in it. Whether it`s done purely or artificially most don`t give a damn. Just try one of our suggestions and Judge for yourself. Some of these are the best sold rums in the world so there you go! The rum bussiness is indeed not as clean in opposit to whisky but i think it`s better you discover this by yourself and then decide wich you like more, the pure rums or the rums with added Sugar. Or maybe both . No offense ment capt. Jimbo!

"No disrespect intended here, but just maybe some of us actually like a so-called "sweetened" libation. " No offense taken. The underlying issue is not whether or not drinkers want to add sugar to their spirits, but as Richard Seales has put it - a matter of both legality and transparency. Seales and others have made clear that such alteration is common, hidden and illegal (for "rum", not so if labeled "flavored rum". If a rum contains any such flavoring additives, under the regulations it becomes a "flavored rum", or in some cases a "rum liqueur" under the TTB's Standards of Identity. Readers should note that whisky and bourbon operate under the same set of rules, but only rum suffers this secret alteration. It's fine if some drinkers require a spirit be sweetened to enjoy it, but any such flavoring need to be admitted and labeled. Buy what you wish, but know you have the right to know what you are buying. Therein lies the issue. Here's the reality: a distiller can produce and age true and fine complex rums at great cost, or can instead produce thin, high alcohol (low flavor) inexpensive, and mass produced near vodka, then secretly add flavors, sugar, glycerol or even wine, plus enough E-150a to make it appear rich and aged, when it is not. These tricked out, secretly altered rums are then premiumized, with unsupportable age statements, false color, hidden added sugar and flavors and are sold as "premiums" at premium prices (say $50 to $150). Are they worth it? Not really. It's far easier to buy an ordinary bargain rum and sugar it yourself by adding what these cheaters do: up to 12 tsp. of sugar per bottle, plus other additives designed solely to deceive and to make large profits for what are really very inexpensive spirits. One of our readers did exactly that - added his own sugar in amounts from 1 to 50 grams, in steps, and noted its syrupy sweet but smother effect. If that's what you like, no worries. But if the distiller does that secretly and then sells you the altered product at unsupportable premium prices, is that right or fair? Neither, which is exactly why for years the practice was hidden and denied. It was only when ALKO and Sweden, and Drejer exposed the practice. Now mind you, that's perfectly fine although we should note that drinkers of Scotch and Irish whisky, bourbon and single malts would never accept such trickery, and guess what? They don't. There is a broad movement not to eliminate sweetened or flavored rums - as the drinker may prefer - but only to make them honest and to abide by the regulations and provide honest information, and including honest age. If you think that deception about hidden flavoring is bad, age statement are even worse. Example: if you buy a Canadian whisky, you can trust that it is at least 3 years old as all this whisky is bonded, ie locked and stored under government seal and supervision. Same for many bourbons, etc. But rum? Not a single bonded product for sale, although US law allows bonding. In closing, I have no problem whatever with sweetened/flavored spirits - indeed some of my favorite drinks are top quality European and Scottish liqueurs. But I know what they are, they are honestly labeled and sold, and I like them. In sum the issue is honesty and transparency. Fortunately and as some here know, there is a Master Sugar Listing of over 780 tests for sugar as gathered from ALKO, et al. In this way rum buyers have a way to find out which rums are honest and sugar free, and which have been mild, moderately or heavily sugared. About half those tests showed very low or no sugar, and half showed significant alteration. Interestingly, it was found that many so-called "premiums" were also the most altered sugar bombs. It is a good thing to know what you are buying, as in the end we all have the right to know what's in the bottle. But I will say this: way too many of the so-called "premiums" are little more than made up marketing stories, in fancy bottles and even more fancy prices - but are premium only in their massive sugar content. They have been smothered, and are really not worth the price. You can do better sugaring a lower shelf product for much the same result and at 1/4th the price.

It's clear that I'm not the only one that is tired of Capn Jimbo's demeaning and annoying "anti-sugar" posts. Can we take a vote that this fool be banned from this site so he can go and paste his boring purity rant elsewhere? Doesn't he have his own site? Get a life Jimmy. Drink some of that rum and lighten up you loser. Thanks :)

Still so new to this rum thing, so if I probably won't type what I'm actually trying to say. Since late last year when I first discovered the joy of rum, I have consumed a few bottles of Plantation XO. It will always be my "First Love". For Christmas last year, a customer gave me a bottle of Diplimatico Reserva Exclusiva. DAMN! That was a fine libation! I've been trying to figure out who imports it to the US. (I tossed that bottle w/o noting the importer). UGH! A couple weeks ago, I bought a Mount Gay XO and found it very delightful; not as sweet as the Plantation and much more complex. Fast forward to this past weekend.....I bought a RZ 23. One of the biggest disappointments ever. Just did not care for it at all! It almost seemed fake, if that makes sense. Will never buy it again or recommend it to my customers. Then today, a friend of mine who had just returned from New Orleans put a bottle of Diplatico in front of me! Great timing too, because the sales manager for the distributor of Plantation was in the store at the same time. Well I poured him and my employees a taste of Diplamatico. Everyone was very impressed, especially when I told them it sells for $35 in New Orleans. That sales manager is going to do everything he can to acquire the rights to distribute Diplomatico because he doesn't want another distributor to get their hands on it. He stated "If someone else signs this brand, it will kill Plantation". Intelligent decision, I must say. in closing, I am going to buy another bottle of Plantation XO and taste it along side the Zacapa 23 and this Diplimatico.....Hell I might even buy another Mount Gay XO to throw in the mix. Ultimately, my plan is to hold a high-end rum tasting in the store to "enlighten" my whiskey drinkers. Finally, I am going to be in Houston July 11 through 13. I hope to bootleg some "unfamiliar" rums back here.

Doorly's XO and Doorly's 12 year....have to add those to the list. I got a bottle of each in Jacksonville about a month ago. Excellent sipping rum IMHO. Also Dictador 20 and Dictador Insolent (I have a bottle of the Perpetual but haven't opened it yet). Surprisingly...at least for me...was how good Doorly's Macaw Barbados Rum was.