~$30 for 750mL bottle- Purchased at Riverside Wine & Spirits
Background
I feel like I had to have tried Zaya rum at some point in the past, but it could just be that I simply did not. A month or so ago a friend brought a bottle into the cigar lounge one evening. I tried it and was amazed and delighted from the first sip. So I went out and bought a bottle for myself.
Zaya Gran Reserva is a product of Trinidad and Tobago, which is known as the “Land of the Hummingbird,” a point that is made plain with the seal placed high on the bottle. The bird is the symbol of the island, found on the coat of arms, currency, and passport. The rum is a blend of “rare rums” aged up to 16 years. Unlike whiskies where the age statement on the bottle is the minimum age of anything included in the blend, this is the maximum age of any rum in the bottle. Apparently there is no strict governing body for rum so it’s easy to mistake this for a 16-year-aged rum if you’re not aware.
The company says the rum is “perfect for mixing” into cocktails, as well as standing alone, neat or over ice. For this look, I only drank it neat, although a Zaya mojito sounds amazing once late spring or summer roll around.
Notes
The Zaya Gran Reserva was simply one of the darkest rums I’ve seen…it was darker than some bourbons! It had a deep amber color owing to the long rest it had in barrels. Giving it a good sniff, I got tons of brown sugar notes along with pear and other fruit notes. It had a deep sweet smell without being cloying.
Giving it a sip, I got the molasses and brown sugar notes up front while the fruity flavors came on as a secondary note. While you wouldn’t expect a lot of alcohol vapor burn from an 80 proof liquor, I was shocked to get practically none. It was just sweet and smooth the entire way down.
I paired it with a Tatuaje Avion 13 Reserva, which uses a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper over Nicaraguan filler and binder leaves. Usually I would pair this with a good stout or bourbon…and usually I would opt for a Dominican cigar to go with a barrel-aged rum…but I thought this rich rum could stand up to this full-bodied cigar.
An unusual pairing (for me at least) turned out very nice, as the rum was a great complement to the sweetness of the cigar, which added tons of earth and spice to the proceedings.
I’ve paired the Zaya Gran Reserva with several Davidoffs and other cigars from a variety of countries and had a nice experience every time. This is just a remarkable rum that performs like a bourbon in that it pairs well with practically every cigar. And I have to say this is probably my favorite rum that I’ve ever tried. The fact that it’s so inexpensive is a bonus.
