Ron Botran 18 Year Rum
Ron Botran 18 Year Rum is Guatemala's answer to the great aged sippers: a solera rum aged up to 18 years, distilled from virgin sugar cane honey and matured 2,300 meters up in the Guatemalan highlands, bottled at 40% ABV (80 proof) in a 700mL bottle. The solera blends five-to-eighteen-year-old rums from American oak, sherry and port casks — and the cool mountain air gives it an unusually smooth, round character. Wine Enthusiast gave it 91 points. Order it online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- ABV: 40% (80 proof)
- Size: 700mL
- Aging: solera system, rums aged 5–18 years in American oak, sherry and port casks
- Base: virgin cane honey (first-press sugar cane juice), charcoal filtered
- Producer: Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala — family distilling since 1939
- Origin: Guatemala
High-Altitude Aging, Low-and-Slow Character
Most Caribbean rum matures in sweltering heat; Botran matures in the Quetzaltenango highlands, where consistently cooler temperatures slow the wood-and-spirit conversation to a whisper. The "1893" in the range's name nods to the year the family's rum tradition began, and the house style shows it: mahogany-colored, gentle, layered. Caramelized sugar, roasted cocoa and vanilla lead, with mocha coffee, baked apple and a wisp of tobacco underneath — a rum built for a snifter, not a mixer. Browse more rum and the Botran collection at Del Mesa Liquor.
Tasting Notes
Nose: caramelized sugar, roasted cocoa, warm vanilla, coconut, subtle wood and tobacco leaf. Palate: rich caramel and dark chocolate, mocha coffee, baked apple, buttery pastry, toasted oak, faint smokiness. Finish: medium, smooth and slightly dry — rolling tobacco, vanilla and dark chocolate.
How to Enjoy
Neat or on one large rock in a snifter at room temperature — the solera complexity is the whole point. It also makes a rum Old Fashioned with genuine depth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "solera 18" mean? The rum is aged in a solera system of fractionally blended barrels holding rums from 5 to 18 years old — the 18 refers to the oldest component.
Is Botran made from molasses? No — from virgin cane honey, the concentrated first pressing of fresh sugar cane juice.
How strong is it? 40% ABV (80 proof).
Rum lovers in San Diego, CA can order Ron Botran 18 online from Del Mesa Liquor.