Brugal 1888 Gran Reserva Rum 750ml

Brugal & Co. was founded in 1888 by Andrés Brugal Montaner, a Spanish immigrant from Catalonia who first learned rum making after settling in Cuba, then crossed to the Dominican Republic and established his distillery in the northern port city of Puerto Plata. The company remained a whites only producer for its first three decades before releasing its first aged rum in 1920, and it has stayed under family leadership ever since, now guided by the fourth and fifth generations of Brugals. In 2008 the family sold a majority stake to the Edrington Group, the Scottish company behind whisky brands like The Macallan, though production remains rooted in the Dominican Republic.

The 1888 Gran Reserva, named for the distillery's founding year, is distilled twice from Dominican molasses and matured through a double aging process the brand calls Doblemente Añejado. The rum first spends six to eight years in American white oak barrels that previously held bourbon, then moves into hand selected first fill Spanish Oloroso sherry casks for an additional two to four years. Dominican Republic's tropical heat accelerates this maturation considerably, driving an angel's share loss of up to fourteen percent, well above what temperate climates typically produce, and the finished blend is bottled at 40% ABV.

The rum offers a complex nose of chocolate, roasted coffee, and dried fruit, moving into a full bodied palate of toffee, caramel, and toasted almond, with oak spice and a touch of licorice through a smooth, lingering finish.