Ron Anejo Carupano XO Rum
Ron Anejo Carupano XO Rum is the distillery's crown — an 80 proof (40% ABV) 750mL blend drawn from the "Antiguas Reservas," Carupano's oldest family reserves aged between eighteen and thirty-five years in sealed American white-oak barrels. Each annual release is a numbered edition of just 2,000 crystal-cut decanters in a fine casing, part of the distillery's Prestige Collection. This is extra-old Venezuelan rum at its most serious: mahogany-dark, cigar-box deep, and finished impossibly long. Available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.
- Proof / ABV: 80 proof (40% ABV) — 750mL crystal decanter
- Age: blend of 18–35-year-old "Antiguas Reservas" (oldest family reserves)
- Cask: sealed American white oak — no angel's-share replacement
- Release: annual limited edition, 2,000 numbered decanters; Prestige Collection
- Origin: Hacienda Altamira, Macarapana-Carupano Valley, Venezuela; founded 1762
The Antiguas Reservas
"Antiguas Reservas" — the antique reserves — are the barrels a family distillery never intended to sell: the oldest stocks laid down generation after generation at Hacienda Altamira, some of them thirty-five years in sealed oak. The XO is the only Carupano drawn from them, which is why the release is capped at two thousand numbered decanters a year and why the August 2023 redesign rolled out across thirty markets as an event. At this age the sealed-barrel method is doing its heaviest work — decades of unreplenished evaporation concentrating everything into mahogany. Compare Del Mesa's rum prestige shelf or the complete Ron Anejo Carupano range.
Tasting Notes
Brand notes: mahogany with orange glints, dense and bright; a nose of caramel, brioche and toffee, walnuts and almonds, cigar box, tobacco, tonka bean, fermented cocoa, and subtle smoke; a strong, balanced, unctuous palate of marinated black fruits, candied raisins, coconut, coffee, and tobacco; an exceptionally long finish.
How to Enjoy
Neat, in the decanter's own weight of a glass — pour once and sit with it. This is a special-occasion rum; the numbered bottle makes the occasion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Carupano XO a 35-year-old rum?
No — it is a blend of the distillery's oldest reserves, aged between 18 and 35 years; "XO" here signals extra-old, not a single age statement.
How many bottles are made?
Each annual release is a numbered edition of 2,000 crystal-cut decanters in fine casing.
What are the Antiguas Reservas?
The distillery's oldest family-held reserves at Hacienda Altamira — private stocks laid down over generations, reserved for the XO alone.
The oldest stocks the Carupano family ever set aside — add this numbered decanter to your Del Mesa Liquor order, San Diego, CA.