A couple years ago, I bought Ann Marie a copy of Smuggler’s Cove Tiki* cocktail manual. The result of this was two fold. First, it energized Ann Marie to branch out into a whole new area, and one that she arguably ended up being quite passionate about – Tiki drinks. The second result was the exponential growth of our rum collection, swelling from 2 – 4 bottles to over 20. Even with all those rums, we still find there to be something special about El Dorado 3.
El Dorado 3
We didn’t originally pick up a bottle of El Dorado 3 (we actually ended up with the 8), but we ended up being curious enough about their line up that we also ended up tasting not only the 8, but the 3, 5, and 12. As previously mentioned in our review of El Dorado 12, Demerara Distilling Limited (DDL) is home to some of the oldest operating stills in the world. While demerara and Guyana rums are known for the caramel (something that Matt Pietrek of Cocktail Wonk dug into with Sharon Sue-Hang of DDL), you won’t see any of that here thanks to the charcoal filtering process. Techniques like charcoal filtering, and their use of wooden stills, demonstrate the experience that DDL has. Experience that shows through in their rums, like their youngest, El Dorado 3.
Sight: Clear – thanks to charcoal filtering
Smell: Vanilla and powdered sugar with hints of banana and cotton candy are layered over by an ethanol layer. The nose is sugary, with hints of nougat and a little nuttiness.
Sip: The mouthfeel is moderate and there’s a fun salted caramel like note that quickly vanishes into large quantities of raw sugar and nougat. There’s a sweetness as well. A touch of banana and macaroon hides there as well.
Savor: The ending has a touch of rum funk and cotton candy with hints of nuts. Finish has a moderate length.
El Dorado 3 is our go to lightly aged rum thanks to it’s very well balanced character and playful flavors. The vanilla and caramel notes provide strong backbones for everything ranging from eloquent daiquiri’s to imaginative and elaborate Tiki drinks. In fact, our biggest regret regarding El Dorado 3 is that it isn’t more readily available everywhere.
If you are going to stock a lightly aged rum in your bar, El Dorado 3 is our top recommendation. For more recommendations, and to see other bottles for starting your home bar, check out our Beginner Home Bar Bottles list.
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