PROOF Dec 2018 | Page 55

55 El Dorado Rum: 5-Year-Old Cask Aged Our tasters thought that El Dorado’s 5-year-old cask aged rum was easy on the eyes and the mouth, with a surprisingly sweet flavour, that wasn’t too strong, and a pleasantly smooth texture. While some tasters didn’t care much for the smell, several tasters stated that they could identify the distinct flavour of molasses in it, making it very palatable, and an overall enjoyable drink. What our tasters said: “Colour good. Has a nice caramel, ’molasses-y’ smell.” “Very smooth. Love the warmth and has a pretty good aftertaste.” “Smell was too spicy for me. Burned my nose.” “I think I can smell molasses in it. It’s quite sweet.” Perhaps the biggest surprise was that the “super-premium” contender actually came up a little short when compared to our other more affordable brands. Though there were some tasters who considered Haagen-Dazs’ French Vanilla as having had the best “vanilla flavour” and three identified it as their personal favourite, the expected heavyweight, surprisingly didn’t seem to work for several of our tasters. It wasn’t so much that they disliked Haagen- Dazs’ French Vanilla, our tasters just seemed to prefer the other brands a bit more. Haagen-Dazs’ French Vanilla What our tasters said: “The colour is really yellow! But it’s a good balance of salty and sweet” “Very creamy. A little rich for me personally.” “Texture was really nice. This was definitely my fave.” “I’d buy it but I don’t think I love it.”