Sugarcane Source Debate: What Makes Ron Medellín 12 Unique
Ron Medellín 12 Years caught our eye because it’s one of the few we’ve seen from Columbia. Dictador 12 is the only other “Columbian rum” we reviewed that lacked the start-to-finish experience we typically seek. In researching this article, we’ve learned that there is a debate throughout the rum world about whether a rum labeled from Columbia is actually 100% Columbian. It all comes down to the source of the sugarcane.
Columbia is the 15th largest sugarcane producer, supplying 22.87 million tons of milled sugarcane annually. Besides industrial consumption, sugarcane provides ethanol or ethyl alcohol, which, by law, is blended into gasoline at a volume of ten percent. In 2021, Columbia needed to import more ethanol to meet demand, leaving the rum industry to source the rum’s base elsewhere. On Rum Revelations’ website, a Columbian rum producer says, “…90% of the alcohol to make rum is imported from Ecuador.”
Ron Medellín begins with honey, made by heating sugar cane juice from the first-pressed sugar cane for three days. From there, the process continues in a typical manner by adding yeast and other “inputs” to begin fermentation, then distilling to 94% v/v. What sets Ron Medellín 12-year-old apart is that it’s aged naturally in American oak casks in a storage facility 1,500 meters above sea level for 12 years, leading us to believe the rum is a genuine 12-year-old.
He Said
Right off the bat, a nutty oak aroma supports sweet notes of vanilla and fruit. The first sip made my entire mouth tingle and is entirely different from the nose. There is a deep earthiness reminding me of fresh dirt after a rain. Sweetness returns on the finish with an added chocolate-covered coffee bean note. Unfortunately, the oak cannot be found on the palate or finish. Adding a piece of ice smooths out the initial earthiness but reappears on the finish, along with the sweet, chocolate, and coffee bean notes. The rum reminds me of a Scotch Single Malt from Islay.
She Said
I could smell the sweetness from the bottle as Clint poured us two sniffers. The rich amber liquid hugs the sniffer with slow, thick lacing. A deep whiff tickles my nose and the back of my palate, making me cough. Lightening up on the inhale, I find some orange notes with slightly unidentifiable sweetness. Like Clint, my first sip was the strangest experience of tasting rum. The liquid fizzed on my tongue like ginger ale, then finished with a long, deep-warming note. Notice that I haven’t provided identifiable notes to hang my hat on. For me, the fizzy sensation is so distracting that none can be found. I do enjoy the warmth of the finish.
Overall
Ron Medellín – 12 Years is like no rum we have had over the years. We almost wouldn’t even consider it a rum. At $36/bottle, this is a true outlier in the rum category, but worth a try.
3.0 of 5
About Clint and Terry: We have sampled many a dram over our 33 years of marriage and quite often we don’t fully agree. Could be the difference is male/female taste buds. Or, somebody is just wrong.
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