Review 2 - Flor de Caña Centenario 12

Photo copyright © H.Kristoffersen

Solid, but frankly overrated 12 year old from Flor de Caña.

Information

Flor de Caña Centenario 12 year old is a medium range product from Flor de Cañas varied supply of rums. The name is a reference to the flowers of the main ingredient – sugar cane.

The company is based in Nicaragua and is currently being run by 5th generation of the Pellas family who started it all i 1890. For more information on the company, check out their website. As all marketed rums they have quite a lot of information on there.

Flor de Caña spends quite a lot of energy telling about their ”Slow-Aging” process. I have no idea what they are talking about and quite frankly neither do they. They have a section on the website reserved for this, but it doesn’t in any way define how they seem to make their rum age slow.

I call marketing shenanigans! Sorry FdC, but you just can’t slow down time no matter how awesome a rum maker you are.

Presentation

Nice cardboard box which hold a short and squat bottle. The label show off just the name of the rum, the origin, and ABV. On top is a plastic diffuser with a plastic cap closing it all off. A bit cheap looking in my opinion. I do prefer a nice, tightly fitted cork.

Label on the back has a lot of text in spanish that I have no idea what says.

As a last comment on the presentation Flor de Caña has recently launched a redesign of their entier product line. As part of this relaunch they have now (seemingly) introduced proper corks on their higher tier products. Hurray!

However their bottles have now changed from sort of an oldish style to a way more modern look. In my opinion not actually an improvement. But hey I got my cork.

The rum it selv has a nice amber hus and a twirl reveals a lot of skinny, persistent legs.

Nose

Fruity burnt sugar, hint of nail polish remover.

Taste

With an age of 12 years I sort of expect something nice. Not that age necessarily is a proof of quality. 

The rum has a medium-light character and doesn’t make much of a fuzz. The first thing I notice is the same fruity sweetness that I found in the nose. There is a slight peppery sting and perhaps a couple of nuts somewhere in the mix. But the rum doesn't seem to talk much.

Considering that this is a 40% ABV I find the alcohol to be quite dominating

Finish

Huge initial warmth as a result of the protruding alcohol. A final tiny dab of sweetness and it’s all over. Apart from a slight burn in the throat you are not left with anything to remind you of what you just sipped.

Rating and final thoughts

A quite decent sipper with nothing extraordinary to speak of - except anonymity. The lack of anything unpleasant is perhaps this rums strongest advantage.

The bottle isn’t very expensive so if you are looking to try something different that the ultra sweet rums from Zacapa, Millonario, Diplomatico and such, this could be a way forward.

Like the rum, I have nothing more to say.

Rating: 63/100

Links

www.flordecana.com