After falling in love with Flor de Caña Gold Rum, the BoozeBasher crew salivated at the opportunity to try the more mature seven year creation. Grand Reserve Rum is a full-bodied, premium rum that is aged seven years in Nicaragua using Flor de Caña’s proprietary slow-aging technique. This seven years of aging gives the Grand Reserve its rich mahogany color and an extremely smooth taste. The fine folks at Flor de Caña suggest it be consumed neat or on the rocks with soda or water. We elected to follow a more traditional American path in our tasting by consuming it on the rocks and then with Coke©.
The Grand Reserve has a scent similar to its younger brother, but it has a more prominent coffee and caramel-like essence. You can definitely tell that this is a much more mature rum than the Gold. When sipping it on the rocks, the Grand Reserve has a very flavorful and rich taste. Admittedly, none of us here at BoozeBasher are the biggest rum drinkers, but this stuff has a very smooth and pleasant taste. If you enjoy sipping rum on the rocks, Flor de Caña Grand Reserve will be a tasty treat for you. After the drink gets a little watered-down, it becomes even smoother without detracting much from the rich taste.I can tell why they suggest drinking this stuff with a little water. It honestly goes down as smooth as water, and it leaves you with an awesome barrel-like aftertaste. The experience is like no other rum I have ever consumed.
If Flor de Caña Grand Reserve falters anywhere, it would have to be in its mixability. Though a little bit of water created a spectacular drinking experience, mixing the spirit with Coke© detracted from it’s taste. The cola actually made the Grand Reserve taste more watered-down than when mixing it with a splash of water. Don’t get me wrong, this stuff mixes very well with cola, but it honestly tastes a little better without all the mixing. If you want a good dark rum for mixing, I would suggest Flor de Caña Gold. While the Gold seems to accent the cola beautifully, the cola holds back the flavors in the Grand Reserve. After a few drinks though, all I really tasted was the Coke©, so it was easy to knock back enough of the cocktails to get me where I wanted to be…and fast.
Just like its little brother, Flor de Caña Grand Reserve really took care of me when it comes to drunkability. It gave me a speedy buzz, and after four drinks, I had a jolly and elated drunk. I felt relaxed and energized at the same time. I almost felt like running naked through the streets and singing. Luckily for everyone within my maximum running distance of one block, I just sat at my computer and continued drinking. Even though my motor skills were slightly impaired and I had a slight drive to de-pants myself, I was more than happy to continue my night drinking out at my favorite local bar. Combine the smoothness of the Grand Reserve with its happy and rewarding intoxication, and you have an excellent liquor. It would be perfect for any tropical-themed party that may wish to incourage nudity.
Even with the good intoxication that came with this spirit, I didn’t really have much of a hangover. I had the usual dryness in my mouth and a mild headache, but they both diminished promptly after a few glasses of water. However, I will admit that my memory from the previous night was very hazy. I tend to have trouble remembering nights filled with heavy drinking, but this stuff really did a number on the memory front. Come to think of it, I may have actually run around naked and singing, but if I don’t remember, it never happened. Isn’t that how it works?
With the damage done to Nicaragua by Hurricane Felix in September of 2007, we selfishly worried that there might be a shortage of the fine Flor de Caña rums, but they still seem to be abundant and resonably-priced here in Florida. At around $25 for a 750ml bottle, Flor de Caña Grand Reserve is very affordable for a sipping rum. Its wonderful smoothness when mixed with a little water make it a steal for this price. I would urge all rum drinkers, and anyone who generally likes the taste of alcohol on the rocks to give this stuff a try. $25 is a small price to pay for happiness in a bottle.
You may also want to read our reviews of Flor de Caña Gold and Flor de Caña Extra Dry.
Sipability - 7.5
Mixability - 7.5
Drunkability - 8.0
Hangover-ability - 8.0
Bang for the Buck - 7.0
Chick-appeal - 7.0
Overall - 8.0 
Comments
Ok, this is a stupid question, but how do you open the bottle. When we took off the top, there was a plastic insert, like a pourer, only it doesn’t allow any rum to pass through it. I don’t want to screw it up by breaking the bottle, and i am sure there is a simple solution here, so a little help would be nice.
Thanks,
desamparado
You may have gotten a defective bottle. I was actually impressed with how easy the Flor de Caña bottles open. All you have to do is twist the cap, and the plastic ring underneath splits in half. The cap then just twists off. There was no plastic insert. The liquor actually poured freely. Maybe they have to sell them in different bottles in some places. I’m sorry to hear of your troubles. There is nothing worse than having to wait on a trickle of liquor from a bottle when you are thirsty!
UPDATE: I bought a new bottle of the Flor de Caña Gold, and they have started putting those damn annoying pour spouts on the bottles! They aren’t as bad as some though. It still pours rather quickly if you get the right angle.
From the picture it looks like the bottle you have is 80 proof, I have a friend from Nicaragua who brings back bottles of the grand reserve that are 70 proof. I’ve tasted the two side by side and the domestic bottle (70 proof from Nicaragua) was noticeably smoother than the imported version. If you ever get the chance to try the original I’d take it!
I finally found (and drank) a bottle of the Grand Reserve. It’s magnificent. Why can’t all rum be this good?
You need to let the air flow
for the pour spout to work you have to tap the bottle with some force from the bottom… like when you want to open a brand new jar of something… this is because it has a ball bearing type of mechanism similar to the bar pour spouts… actually in from nicaragua and this is a bit of a tradition… its called “sacarle el demonio” which literally means taking out the demons from the bottle… go figure lol
This is hands-down, bar-none the best rum I have ever had. I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Flor de Caña in 2002 and I have been a fan ever since. Sadly, I’m only able to get my hands on a bottle when my wife (who is from Nicaragua) and I travel to visit her family in northern Nicaragua or if a friend is traveling to Miami or LA where Nicaraguans live (we live in Portland, Oregon). It’s always worth it though!
Junior is a genius…..forceably hitting the bottom of the bottle a couple of times worked! We were *this* close to starting a bar fight just so we could crack the bottle against something to get it opened.
So do you say that it is better than Captain Morgan Private Stock? and are you going to do a review of the new 100 Captain rum?
I would not say it is better than Captain Morgan Private Stock, but it is certainly very good. Keep an eye out for the Captain 100. We already did a tasting of it, and Wade should have a review of it up next month.
Hmm, saw that you guys had some eggnog recipes, but I was wondering if you knew of a good hot buttered rum recipe? I’ve seen some that use a crockpot and some that didn’t, just wanted an opinion of some guys who know what they are talking about.
I don’t know of any off the top of my head. I don’t think I’ve ever had any. That sounds like a good idea for a feature article though…
Hmm, made the crock pot hot buttered rum, and it’s pretty good, but stupidly made it with Meyer’s dark rum. Probably should have badgered my friend for his cpt morgan private stock…
Add A Comment