Twice I’ve tried Ron Pampero Aniversario Rum over a period of several days and both times I’ve made a note to buy it again when I get home. Then when I got home, I never see it in a store.
That may be because this fine “exclusive reserve” rum is from Venezuela. Back in 2016 I wrote on this blog, “There’s not much of anything good coming out of Venezuela these days. The economy is in shambles, oil production was dropping fast even before the price drop socked their revenues, and in 2015 Caracas had the highest homicide rate in the world. After so many years of bad government, it’s hard to see an upscale travel scene rising up here in my lifetime, so we’ve basically ignored the country in Luxury Latin America.”
Well, here I am writing this in the second half of 2024 and it’s even more bleak. There are more Venezuelans living outside of the country now than there are left in it. After another stolen election and the U.S. confiscating the election cheat’s plane, the only good things left there seem to be their oil, their sugar cane, and their rum. And Ron Pampero Aniversario is a very good fine rum, not just a good Venezuelan rum.
When You Find This Aged Rum, Don’t Hesitate
I once sat down with a companion at the Explora Atacama Hotel in Chile and since it was all-inclusive, I said to the bartender, “Pour us the best rum you’ve got.” He didn’t hesitate, pulling a bottle off the shelf that was inside an embossed leather pouch.
“This is my favorite,” he said, and when we said we’d never heard of it, he said, “Nobody has heard of it, but it’s really good.”
We both took a few sips, let it roll around in our mouths, and agreed that he knew what he was talking about. Pampero became my nightly companion after a day of adventures.
I then bought a whole bottle a few weeks ago when I was headed to a Caribbean island and wanted something for the condo with a kitchen and bar. I hadn’t had any luck finding this brand in Tampa liquor stores, so when I saw Ron Pampero Aniversario for $40 at the Ft. Lauderdale airport duty free shop, I pounced on it.
Ron Pampero Aniversario Tasting Notes
This a smooth and sweet, well-rounded rum that manages to hit every taste bud and fill your mouth with flavor, but without the usual burn and backbite you get from some lower quality alternative. Plus you don’t get the overpowering alcohol taste or aroma that you do with many Caribbean versions blended with less finesse.
I frankly didn’t expect anything coming out of Venezuela to be best described as “balanced,” but there’s obviously a true master distiller at work in the Pampero tasting room. This Aniversario version starts smooth and finishes smooth, with just the right amount of heft from the oak barrels aging to make it serious.
If your palate is really refined you’ll probably taste nutmeg, vanilla, sweet coffee, and dried fruit in the mix. Otherwise it’ll remind you of the best piece of caramel or butterscotch you’ve ever eaten, the brown sugar still making an appearance but without being cloying.
My original bartender in Chile made an offhand comment that we should “let it open up a bit” and sample it over an hour or two. Maybe it’s because we were feeling good by the end, but it did seem to smooth out a little.
I tried that again with the bottle I bought and what seems to happen is some of the alcohol nose dissipates as it sits in the glass or gets swirled. Then there’s a delicate spice taste, a little vanilla, and a hint of leather that gets stronger. The flavor complexity of this special rum just gets better.
Pampero Blending and Packaging
The main criticism I can muster for this Venezuelan rum is for the packaging inside the pouch. The leather bag is much more attractive than the label with the strange medieval font that’s inside. Plus the squat bottle design makes it dribble when pouring until it’s half empty. Once it was in my glass and I was sipping, however, I forgot about all that.
This Solera system rum is apparently made from a blend of 4-year and 5-year barrels, which goes to show you it’s possible that longer doesn’t necessarily mean better in the rum world, especially if it’s aged near sea level instead of in the highlands. I’m not letting this one knock Ron Zacapa off as my top pick, but if you can find Pampero Aniversario for less than $40 (as seems to be the case in liquor stores when available), snag a bottle for you and one for a friend. With the nice leather pouch packaging and most other exports from Venezuela disappearing, this is a great gift that has a story to go with it.
If you want to try a different version, they also put out a Seleccion 1938 version that’s lighter than the dark mahogany color of the sister with more age on her. It’s a blend as well, from 10 different barrels apparently, so it’s hard to put any kind of age statement on it. At least some of the blend in this one is from rum that’s only been in the barrels (used bourbon and ex-sherry casks) for two years.
I can’t vouch for that one as I haven’t tried it, but it should be similar, but less serious. If you don’t love it, use it for cocktails.
This rum is distributed by Diageo, but you won’t find anything about it on their site. Last time I tried to research this rum, Pamero.com redirected to something called TheBar.com, but it looks like they wrangled their domain back and it’s a nice-looking website too.
The site shows a few awards they’ve won, including a few Gold and Silver medals from blind tastings at the San Francisco World Spirits Awards and other competitions. The company has a long history and plenty of experience too: they’ve been at it for around 85 years now.
Ron Pampero Aniversario Reserva Exclusiva rum is still on my search list when I’m browsing at a liquor store and if I see it at duty free when I’m going on vacation, I’ll be adding it to my cart again. The rich flavor of this premium rum, which evolves over time as you sip it, is a real delight.
Article by Timothy
Timothy Scott is the founder and editor of Luxury Latin America and has been covering the region as a travel journalist since the mid-2000s. He has visited each country we cover multiple times and is based in a UNESCO World Heritage city in central Mexico, where he owns a home. See contact information here.
