@flordecanarum’s 12 Centenario is a classic that you would find behind any bar shelf, used in making a great variety of cocktails, and even forms the base spirit of @flordecanachallenge - a global competition with the goal or inspiring the bartending community to become champions of sustainability.

Given its weight and the significance it carries, I thought I’d give this a go, to understand how the Centenario 12 might taste as a neat rum. A little on its background, the rum is molasses-based, where fermentation and distillation occurs via a five-column still at the Ingenio San Antonio sugar mill, and the final distillate at 96% abv. The distillates are then transported to SER Licorera, reduced to 77% abv, then aged fully in exclusively ex-bourbon barrels in the tropics, although there isn’t any indication of its age.

The nose was soft, delicate, and gentle, reminding me of sweet honey, or perhaps beeswax, and sprinkled with citrus zest that gave it an element of brightness. It also had a little hint of floral chrysanthemum that kept it fresh and inviting.

Just as the nose was, the Centenario 12 was equally soft and silky on the palate. Its a very decent sipper if you ask me, with those chrysanthemum florals being rather pronounced at the beginning, with slight baking spices, and a burst of citrus. For a rum at 40% abv, I thought the finish was relatively respectable, medium in length and rounded, which of course is always welcome, with a hint of cinnamon, vanilla, and a slight of rose and brown sugar.

The Centenario 12 then isn’t a complex beast like many of the rums I’ve tasted before, but then again, it never was made to be one. Instead, its purpose was to be an introductory rum, an opening to the light, column still style of rums from the Central Americas. In all, I did rather enjoy the Centenario 12 as a sipper, and just as I said about the Centenario 18, works wonderfully well as an aperitif.

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu