Bacardi Anejo Quatro 4 YO Gold Rum (100cl , 40%)

A four-year-old golden rum that’s inspired by Bacardi founder Don Facundo’s original recipe. Anejo Cuatro is a vibrant spirit with notes of honey, vanilla and oak spices, as well as a smooth palate that’s rounded out by the inclusion of some five- and six-year-old rums.

It is now branded as Bacardi Anejo Cuatro, and it sports a spiffy new age statement, “Aged 4 Years” according to the new label. When I saw the changes in a local retail store I decided I should reach out for a new sample bottle so I could see if my thoughts on the brands had changes in the past 5 years.

Bacardi Anejo Cuatro Rum is produced using column still distillation and oak barrel aging. The rum carries a four year age statement, and it appears to have replaced the former Bacardi Anejo in the rum producer’s line-up. Apparently, the final rum is further ‘shaped’ by filtering the aged rum through a secret blend of charcoal. This charcoal filtration helps to blunt some of the harsh flavour characteristics of a young rum giving it a smoother taste profile and less astringency.

The Bacardi Añejo “Cuatro” hews to all the markers of the long-running Gold and Añejo variations upon which its distillery’s fame rests.  It represents Bacardi in fine style, and those who pay the twenty five dollars or less it costs will find their comfort zone is well tended. Because, while it is a blend of mostly four year old rums (with some five and six year old rums mixed in), column still origin and filtered after ageing, the fact is that it represents the standards set by rums of yesteryear while positioning itself as an entry level almost-premium of today. Yeah…but no. There is not enough that’s original here.