Since I’m based mostly in Mexico and the nation appears to develop a number of sugar cane, it has been a thriller to me why they don’t produce extra rum. So once I see a Mexican rum model on the shelf I don’t acknowledge, I virtually at all times purchase it. So once I noticed Ron La Gloria rum on the shelf at a elaborate La Comer Fresko retailer in Los Cabos, I snatched it up and shared it with a buddy I used to be staying with on the East Cape.
I paid round 600 pesos for this heavy bottle of aged rum which looks as if a great worth. That’s about $35 with the US greenback in the bathroom as it’s once I write this, however could be $30 when the peso is at 20, because it was on the finish of 2024. That’s in the identical vary as Botran 8 and Flor de Cana 7 on a retailer shelf in Mexico.
As with Botron, the quantity is sort of meaningless although. Below the sistema solera methodology, that simply signifies that the oldest rum within the combination is eight years outdated and you must simply take it on religion that there’s greater than a smidgen in there. It’s as much as the grasp distiller to determine how a lot of the mix is aged that lengthy and the way a lot is aged 4 years or much less. So every time you purchase a solera rum, it’s sort of a crap shoot on how aged it truly is.
Fortunately, it solely took one sip to substantiate that I hadn’t gotten a uncooked deal. Whereas I wouldn’t rank La Gloria anyplace close to the highest of the most effective rums I’ve ever tasted, it’s actually top-of-the-line from Mexico, which is kind of hit or miss on high quality. (It’s a unique story with mezcal and tequila so long as you purchase what’s 100% agave.)
La Gloria Ron Añejo Tasting Notes
Whereas this añejo rum isn’t on the identical degree as the sleek and complicated Guatemalan ones and doesn’t have the heft you get from the Caribbean ones (when you’re after that), it’s a strong contender by Mexican requirements. It’s constructed from the Diamante sugar cane grown in Veracruz that’s a hybrid cross-breeded with inventory from Cuba. (The corporate founder was Cuban.) In principle which means you get the most effective of each worlds with this trademarked “Diamond Cane” and Veracruz has the most effective local weather for the sugar cane crop on this nation.
On-line opinions have been blended, however to me this got here throughout as only a high quality, middle-of-the-road rum that’s simply making an attempt to be good, not stand out as totally different. It’s easy sufficient for sipping neat, with all of the anticipated butterscotch and vanilla parts and a few seriousness from the oak barrel getting old. It’s priced low sufficient to be a great cocktail rum although and that’s how two of us ended up ending off half the bottle after the neat tasting. I’d purchase it once more in a heartbeat for that if I see it once more in a Mexican grocery store.
I’ve tried a number of different Mexican rums, from grocery store cheapies that style low-cost to steps up like Prohibido, Mocambo, and Ron Potosi. La Gloria ranks above the primary two and on par with the final one. I’m nonetheless ready to discover a good Mexican run that’s actually aged the variety of years it has on the bottle as an alternative of utilizing the solera methodology with no transparency, however I’m unsure if that day will come. You’ll suppose {that a} nation used to ready 10 or extra years for agave to mature would be capable of retailer rum for that lengthy so we might get a great 7-year model straight up, however it hasn’t occurred but that I’ve seen.
I’m a bit of confused about how this solera rum that’s aged “as much as 8 years” acquired to be so darkish, and there’s not a lot details about their course of on the web site, however total the presentation is nice, with a hefty glass bottle and a pleasant nostril when it pours.
It seems to be like from their web site they solely produce two merchandise: this one and a bleached-out “cristilano” model that can be aged however doesn’t seem like it. I assume that’s meant to please children who need clear cocktails the place the spirit doesn’t seem like what it’s.
Maybe sooner or later we’ll get one which’s geared toward a better market, however for now that is value grabbing when you see it, assuming the worth is true prefer it was for me.
The place to Purchase La Gloria Rum
Like I stated, I acquired my bottle in Mexico at a La Comer Fresko retailer and I haven’t seen it at my native La Comer. However Baja is a great distance from Veracruz, so I assume it’s broadly distributed in Mexico. It appears to be in some Mexican Walmart shops as a result of it’s on their web site.
They do appear to have U.S. distribution as nicely as a result of I noticed it on a number of on-line liquor retailer websites like SipWhisky, SudsandSpirits, and Instacart. It seems to be like I might need overpaid: on that first web site La Gloria rum is barely $29, which takes from “respectable worth” to nice deal for cocktails. At that worth you possibly can elevate your rum drinks to raised high quality however not really feel such as you’re losing the good things.
