Name: Diplomatico Mantuano
Type: Rum
Origin: Venezuela
ABV: 40%
Price: $28.99 from Bogart’s Liquor & Wine in Tupelo, MS
My musical travels can take me all over the place. A couple months, I found my way to Tupelo, MS performing for the city’s annual Elvis Presley festival. When I am out performing, I don’t usually have a ton of free time so I rarely take any cigars with me to enjoy. However, finding a local liquor store to peruse can usually be had with relative ease. While my fellow musicians will usually be looking for the best deals on cases of beer, my first look is always to the spirits aisle. After getting checked into my hotel, I walked across the street to Bogart’s Liquor to see what could be found. After unsuccessfully finding anything in the Scotch section (at least anything reasonably priced), I walked to the other end of the shelf to find a surprisingly healthy selection of Rum. Within it, I found the Diplomatico Mantuano. Not having any experience with Venezuelan rum at all, coupled with a good price for the several days I would be there, it was more or less an instant purchase.
The Diplomatico Mantuano is aged for up to eight years in white oak casks previously used by other whiskies (noted bourbons and malt-whisky according to the Diplomatico website). The website also stated that this rum is ideal for mixed but could also be enjoyed neat. The review of this rum, like any that I have done in the past, has been neat. The color on this rum seems a bit darker than those I have reviewed in the past, at lease from memory. I would call it a dark caramel or a light maple syrup in hue. I didn’t get much from the nose on this rum, only notes of toffee and faint sugar. The initial taste of the rum on the front of the palette starts thin, with openings of sugar and light syrup. I can see where some of the bourbon notes could come from, judging solely from the start of the sip. The middle of the palette is where the flavor for the rum begins to really get noticed. My flavor notes included more toffee, sweet butter and faint molasses. The finish on the Diplomatico Mantuano I found to be rather quick, ending with sweet and molasses finishes on the palette which did not linger.
Because it hovers on the sweeter side for rum (not overly so), I would pair this cigar with a stronger medium bodied or full bodied cigar to help counterbalance the flavor. For review purposes, I enjoyed a glass of this rum with a Nub Habano and it paired well.
Overall, I enjoyed this rum and would be interested in checking out more of their offerings in the future. I still like the Matusalem varieties better but you can’t go wrong in checking this one out. I would certainly buy this again.
Final Score: 8.75/10
Thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.
