Don Q Gran Anejo XO

One of the challenges of having a large rum collection is finding time to revisit everything. I’d say it had been about a year since I last poured Don Q XO, and after taking the bottle out for some photos, it felt like a good excuse to spend some time with it again and see how my impressions compared.

Don Q is produced by Serrallés in Puerto Rico, a distillery with a history stretching back to the nineteenth century. Their rums are built around a lighter, column still style that has long been associated with Puerto Rican rum. With the Cognac and Zinfandel cask-finished releases also in my collection, revisiting the XO felt like a natural starting point before working my way through the rest of the range again.

Facts & Figures.

ABV: 40%

Country: Puerto Rico

Age: Blend of 9-12 years

Cask: ex-Bourbon American white oak

Still: Column

Price: £55

Distillery: Destilería Serrallés

On the nose.

This is exceptionally fruity and floral with heaps of cherries, cranberries and red grapes. There are some sweeter vanilla and caramel notes rounded off with some chopped walnuts.

On the palate.

They drinks more like a 46% than a 40% which might not sound like a lot, but I think it conveys a lot around the depth and flavour that is being put forward in this rum.

This is definitely one of those rums where all of the flavours are presented in tandem rather than sequentially developing. Spending some time unpicking this I get bitter coffee, dark juicy cherries, caramel, peppery oak tannins, and burnt crème brûlée. There’s a weird saline note to this that adds a sickly, briney note (I can’t remember this from previous tastings). The finish is really quite short and leaves a bitter (yet slightly sweet) mouthfeel. A well balanced and well rounded rum with a small leathery undertone.

5/10 – this is interesting and has depth but I’m not sure how I feel about the salty/sweet profile.