Don Q Cristal Rum

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Don Q Cristal Rum is produced by Don Q Rum – a Ponce, Puerto Rico based spirits brand. Founded by the Serrallés family, who have 150 years of rum production experience, Don Q is named after the character of Don Quixote. They produce a variety of different rums including white, gold, aged, flavored, and more. They also take pride in their environmental efforts, such as recapturing CO2 and reclaiming wastewater.
Their rum is made using a molasses base, a unique yeast strain, and fresh water from the Inabón river. It is fermented into what they call a “molasses beer” before being distilled five times.
This particular bottle of Cristal Rum is aged for 1.5-5 years in American White Oak barrels, blended, and then charcoal filtered before bottling.
❖ ABV: 40%
❖ Distillery: Destilería Serrallés
❖ Aging: 1.5-5 years
❖ Price Point: lower moderate
I took a whiff of this rum, and the aroma was bright and airy in the front, with fruit notes following. I couldn’t put my finger on all the different fruits I was smelling, but I eventually decided banana is part of the mixture. After a little while, I also got notes of warm molasses.
I took a sip, and there was a bit of heat in the front, followed by a sweet, fresh flavor. It was slightly fruity, evoking vague memories of tropical juice blends I tasted as a child. Overall, I found the flavor to be very smooth, mellow, and approachable.
For my cocktail, I wanted to try a quintessentially Puerto Rican drink – the Coquito! The Coquito is a drink similar to eggnog, but with a coconut base. Although there many variations of this recipe (each family recipe will be a little different), I decided to try the ratios of Nata Knows Best, who is a blogger with Puerto Rican heritage. I did reduce the recipe to 2 servings, since I’m not making a whole party-size batch.
❖ 2 1/2 oz cream of coconut
❖ 2 1/3 oz sweetened condensed milk
❖ 4 fl oz evaporated milk
❖ 2.5 fl oz white rum
❖ 1/4 scant tsp vanilla extract
❖ 1/4 level or heaped tsp cinnamon
❖ 1/4 scant tsp ground nutmeg
Inside of a cocktail, I found this rum to have a fair amount of heat, with a pleasantly smooth flavor. The flavor notes took a back seat to the strong spices at first, but towards the end of my glass, I was able to notice the fruit notes pairing nicely with the coconut. This was my first experience with Coquito, and I definitely think I will make it again! The recipe was very tasty.
RATING: 5/5
At the end of the day, I had a great experience with Don Q Cristal Rum. Although I’ve certainly tried rums that I’ve found more interesting flavor-wise, this is one of the least expensive options we’ve tasted on the blog, and I think it is an excellent value. It makes a good affordable mixing rum, with some heat, but no harsh alcohol flavor at all.
I also found that researching the company was more interesting than I thought it would be, and I was pleasantly surprised by the ethics of the brand. After reading dozens of bare-minimum level environmental claims from spirits brands over the years, it was refreshing to read about one of the few brands that truly seems to care about it. In fact, one of the family members in leadership joined the family business almost by accident, after pursuing a career in environmental sciences. This family member, Roberto Serralles, spearheaded the company’s wastewater reclamation initiative, among other efforts.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive but reliable white rum for cocktails, I recommend picking up a bottle of Don Q Cristal.
As always, drink responsibly.
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