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Gran Blason Blows Away
Rum Runner-Ups

The winner of Cocktail.com's recent rum tasting event, the amber Costa Rican Gran Blason, is hardly a surprise. Our judges raved about its rich, warm body, full yet unobtrusive palate, and pleasant finish.

We even caught a few of our experts returning for seconds once they were done evaluating the other eight contestants of the evening.

The rum runner-ups, however, made us here at Cocktail.com do a double take.

How could a Captain Morgan's sticky sweet Private Stock top Venezuela's subtle Diplomatico? And what's with the Bermudan standard, the Goslings Black Seal, besting Barbadian contender R.L. Seale's?

Not so fast. After our panel of cocktail experts were finished rating these Caribbean beverages, they lingered on and sipped some more, just for the fun of it.

Guess which bottle they finished? No, not the Gran Blason (although they made a pretty big dent in it.) The editors at Cocktail.com were shocked to find there wasn't a drop of the Myer's Legend left.

An informal poll at the end of the evening found that even though the 10-year old rum ranked third by the numbers, it ended up a favorite -- perhaps, an acquired taste.

Our experts liked Myers' woody nose and described its body as "creamy," "new clarinet reed" (obviously, a musician there) and "full." They also appreciated the dark rum's robust and lingering aftertaste.

There were a few clear losers, too. We threw in some stately Bacardi 1873 -- hardly a "sipping" rum -- and a Military Special imported from the Virgin Islands, just to make sure we had something to compare the premium products to.

Needless to say, they both tanked big time. Some of our tasters even refused to try the Military Special. We couldn't blame them, although you can't beat it mixed in the sweet Sugarloaf Punch.

If there was a consensus among the 11 judges, it's that you don't have to spend $45 a bottle for a great bottle of rum, but it helps.

The Gran Blason is an all-round favorite, perhaps because it is not too demanding on the palate. If you plan on sipping for longer, try the Jamaican Myers Legend. The best overall value, we agreed, was the Goslings Black Seal. The least appealing of the premium rums: the Venezuelan Diplomatico.

Cheers!

The editors of Cocktail.com would like to thank the Rare Rums of the Caribbean for allowing us to test their beverages.

* member of the Rare Rum's of the Caribbean collection