Puntacana Esplendido Dominican Republic Rum 70 cl 38% - NO BOX

The cane fields at the eastern end of the Dominican Republic run all the way to the coast, where the air stays salty and damp the year round. Casks work hard in that heat, and they work fast. Esplendido means splendid, and the producer put the word on the label without flinching.

Please note: There is no gift box with this bottle.

The expert's description

Puntacana Esplendido Dominican Republic Rum 70 cl 38% is a Dominican Rum aged 12 to 20 years in American oak casks, finished in used Burgundy wine casks and bottled at 38%.

The blend brings together young and older distillates married with a 25 year old mother rum. The oldest part supplies the depth, the younger parts the lift, and the result is a very dark rum in the soft Spanish style. The colour is close to mahogany and the texture is thick enough to cling to the side of the glass.

The last six months are spent in used Burgundy wine casks. That is an unusual choice for a Dominican rum, where a finish more often happens in sherry or port wood. The Burgundy casks lay dried red fruit and a light tannin under the sweetness and pull the rum away from straight caramel.

Puntacana Club comes from Oliver & Oliver, a family firm of Cuban origin now based in the Dominican Republic. Maturation happens in a tropical climate, where evaporation runs far higher than in a cool cellar in the north and a cask covers more ground in fewer years. The 12 to 20 years on the label therefore add up to more maturation than the numbers suggest.

Tasting notes

Nose

Sweet baking straight away, warm and fresh from the oven, with thick toffee behind it. A trace of dark fruit and vanilla pod rounds the aroma off.

Palate

Brown sugar and fat bourbon vanilla lead, carried by American oak that adds a little dry structure. Dried fruit from the wine casks arrives midway, and the sweetness stays the course without turning sticky.

Finish

Roasted carob, cinnamon and caramelised fruit. Long and warm, and the oak is the last thing standing.

Specifications

Name: Puntacana Esplendido Dominican Republic Rum 70 cl 38% - NO GIFT BOX
Producer: Oliver & Oliver
Region/Country: Dominican Republic
Type: Dominican Rum
Age: 12 to 20 years
ABV: 38%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: American oak casks, finished in used Burgundy wine casks
EAN no.: 7466871100677
Serving suggestion: Neat in a tulip glass at the end of a meal

Flavour profile

Sweet · Toffee · Vanilla · Dark fruit · Soft

Did you know?

Oliver & Oliver do not distil. The house is a bodega that buys in distillate, ages it and assembles the blends, and the same cellar stands behind labels such as Opthimus, Quorhum and Cubaney. It is a far more common way of working in rum than most people assume.

See our full range of Rum Distilleries

Frequently asked questions about Puntacana Esplendido Dominican Republic Rum 70 cl 38% - NO GIFT BOX

What does Esplendido mean?

Splendid. The word is Spanish, and the producer chose it as the name of the bottling instead of a vintage or a cask designation. This is the darkest and most heavily aged expression in the Puntacana Club range.

What does 12 to 20 years on the label mean?

That the distillates in the blend spent between 12 and 20 years in cask. It is a span rather than an age statement for the whole bottle, and on top of that the blend is married with a 25 year old mother rum. The oldest part sets the tone, the youngest keeps it lively.

Is it one to collect?

It is made to be poured. What argues for setting a bottle aside is the finish in Burgundy wine casks, a rare solution in Dominican rum, together with the old distillates in the blend. Bottlings with that kind of cask history quietly disappear from the shelves.

What do the Burgundy casks do to the flavour?

They lay dried red fruit and a light tannin under the sweetness. Six months is a short stretch, but long enough to give the rum an acidic edge it would never have taken from American oak alone. That edge is why it does not taste purely of caramel.

Why is it bottled at only 38%?

Because the Spanish style of Rum aims for softness rather than power. A lower strength makes the rum rounder to drink neat and pushes the sweetness and vanilla forward. The trade-off is that it thins out in a drink loaded with ice.

What does it go with?

Dark chocolate, an espresso or a cigar. The sweetness and the roasted notes in the finish play against cocoa and coffee, and the rum has enough body to stand up to a cigar rather than vanish beside it. Serve it neat at room temperature.