The Story
Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum. Ron Diplomático Distillery, La Miel, Venezuela — Wine Enthusiast Spirit of the Year 2018, a richly complex Venezuelan rum built on a pure batch kettle pot still base matured up to 12 years, blended with column and continuous still rums and finished in small, select oak casks for a sipping rum of exceptional sweetness and depth.
Ron Diplomático is produced at the Hacienda Saruro in La Miel, Andes region of Venezuela, on a sugar cane estate that grows its own cane at altitude. The estate encompasses the entire production process from field to bottle — growing the sugarcane, producing the molasses, distilling across four different still types, and aging in warehouses on the property. The four still types — batch kettle pot still, batch copper pot still, hybrid copper still, and continuous column still — each produce a different distillate with different character, giving Master Blender Tito Cordero and the distillery's technical team an unusually broad palette from which to create each expression.
Reserva Exclusiva is built primarily on the batch kettle pot still distillate — Diplomático's most characterful and complex spirit base — blended with smaller proportions of the other still types for balance. The blend is matured for up to 12 years in small, select oak casks (smaller casks increase the spirit-to-wood contact ratio, accelerating maturation and imparting more oak character per year). The result is a lush, rich rum with an exceptionally sweet profile: fruit cake, cocoa, dried ginger, baked banana, fudge, toffee, and vanilla oak, with a vivid orange zest finish. Its sweetness is one of the highest in the rum category — a characteristic Venezuelan rum style that has won it enormous popular acclaim. Spirit of the Year, Wine Enthusiast 2018.
Tasting Notes
- Nose: Aromatic bouquet of fruit cake, cocoa, cinnamon, clove, and dried ginger. Rich and inviting with honeyed sweetness upfront.
- Palate: Lush and sweet — baked banana and fudge harmonize with creamy vanilla oak, toffee, and hints of gingerbread. Dried fruit throughout. Luxuriant and full-bodied.
- Finish: A vibrant orange zest note appears in the finish, cutting through the sweetness with brightness and lingering gracefully. Long and warming.
Specs
- Distillery: Ron Diplomático, Hacienda Saruro, La Miel, Venezuela
- Style: Venezuelan Premium Rum
- Base: Primarily batch kettle pot still; blended with continuous column and hybrid still distillates
- Aging: Up to 12 years in small, select oak casks
- Awards: Wine Enthusiast Spirit of the Year 2018; multiple international gold medals
- ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
- Size: 750ml
Browse our full selection of rum at Wooden Cork.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva taste like? Rich and lush — fruit cake, cocoa, cinnamon, clove, and dried ginger on the nose. Baked banana, fudge, toffee, and creamy vanilla on the palate. A vivid orange zest note in the long, warming finish.
- Why is Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva so sweet? Venezuelan rum has historically used sweeter flavor profiles than most Caribbean styles. Diplomático also uses a batch kettle pot still distillate as its primary component, which produces a richer, heavier, more flavorful spirit that carries more of the sugarcane's natural sweetness through distillation.
- What is a batch kettle pot still? A batch kettle still is an unusual type of pot still that retains more of the raw material's flavor compounds than conventional pot stills. It produces a heavy, flavorful spirit similar to what very old-fashioned Caribbean rum producers used historically — very few distilleries in the world still operate them.
- Is Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva good for cocktails? Its sweet, rich profile works in cocktails that can accommodate it — a Rum Old Fashioned is excellent. However, its complex, premium character is primarily designed for sipping neat or on a single large ice cube where the full flavor profile can develop.
- What is the Diplomático range hierarchy? The range moves from Mantuano (the entry-level, column-still dominated blend) to Reserva Exclusiva (the flagship, primarily pot still) to the top-tier Diplomático Ambassador — each progressively richer, older, and more pot-still-driven in character.
Description
Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum. Ron Diplomático Distillery, La Miel, Venezuela — Wine Enthusiast Spirit of the Year 2018, a richly complex Venezuelan rum built on a pure batch kettle pot still base matured up to 12 years, blended with column and continuous still rums and finished in small, select oak casks for a sipping rum of exceptional sweetness and depth.
Ron Diplomático is produced at the Hacienda Saruro in La Miel, Andes region of Venezuela, on a sugar cane estate that grows its own cane at altitude. The estate encompasses the entire production process from field to bottle — growing the sugarcane, producing the molasses, distilling across four different still types, and aging in warehouses on the property. The four still types — batch kettle pot still, batch copper pot still, hybrid copper still, and continuous column still — each produce a different distillate with different character, giving Master Blender Tito Cordero and the distillery's technical team an unusually broad palette from which to create each expression.
Reserva Exclusiva is built primarily on the batch kettle pot still distillate — Diplomático's most characterful and complex spirit base — blended with smaller proportions of the other still types for balance. The blend is matured for up to 12 years in small, select oak casks (smaller casks increase the spirit-to-wood contact ratio, accelerating maturation and imparting more oak character per year). The result is a lush, rich rum with an exceptionally sweet profile: fruit cake, cocoa, dried ginger, baked banana, fudge, toffee, and vanilla oak, with a vivid orange zest finish. Its sweetness is one of the highest in the rum category — a characteristic Venezuelan rum style that has won it enormous popular acclaim. Spirit of the Year, Wine Enthusiast 2018.
Tasting Notes
- Nose: Aromatic bouquet of fruit cake, cocoa, cinnamon, clove, and dried ginger. Rich and inviting with honeyed sweetness upfront.
- Palate: Lush and sweet — baked banana and fudge harmonize with creamy vanilla oak, toffee, and hints of gingerbread. Dried fruit throughout. Luxuriant and full-bodied.
- Finish: A vibrant orange zest note appears in the finish, cutting through the sweetness with brightness and lingering gracefully. Long and warming.
Specs
- Distillery: Ron Diplomático, Hacienda Saruro, La Miel, Venezuela
- Style: Venezuelan Premium Rum
- Base: Primarily batch kettle pot still; blended with continuous column and hybrid still distillates
- Aging: Up to 12 years in small, select oak casks
- Awards: Wine Enthusiast Spirit of the Year 2018; multiple international gold medals
- ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
- Size: 750ml
Browse our full selection of rum at Wooden Cork.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva taste like? Rich and lush — fruit cake, cocoa, cinnamon, clove, and dried ginger on the nose. Baked banana, fudge, toffee, and creamy vanilla on the palate. A vivid orange zest note in the long, warming finish.
- Why is Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva so sweet? Venezuelan rum has historically used sweeter flavor profiles than most Caribbean styles. Diplomático also uses a batch kettle pot still distillate as its primary component, which produces a richer, heavier, more flavorful spirit that carries more of the sugarcane's natural sweetness through distillation.
- What is a batch kettle pot still? A batch kettle still is an unusual type of pot still that retains more of the raw material's flavor compounds than conventional pot stills. It produces a heavy, flavorful spirit similar to what very old-fashioned Caribbean rum producers used historically — very few distilleries in the world still operate them.
- Is Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva good for cocktails? Its sweet, rich profile works in cocktails that can accommodate it — a Rum Old Fashioned is excellent. However, its complex, premium character is primarily designed for sipping neat or on a single large ice cube where the full flavor profile can develop.
- What is the Diplomático range hierarchy? The range moves from Mantuano (the entry-level, column-still dominated blend) to Reserva Exclusiva (the flagship, primarily pot still) to the top-tier Diplomático Ambassador — each progressively richer, older, and more pot-still-driven in character.
