El Pasador de Oro XO is a Guatemalan rum, that’s bottled in France. While there is no displayed age statement, it should be aged around a minimum of 6 years (according to a variety of unofficial blogs all over the internet). In these cases, it’s normally best if the bottle produces some obscure web address. In this case, they don’t even provide that level of information. That said, like many products, sometimes there’s limited information, and all you can do is pop the bottle.
El Pasador de Oro
Sight: An amber-gold, almost honey like color.
Smell: There’s a toasty coconut and vanilla start to the nose. It gets a little nutty with some caramel and orange marmalade edges. There’s a hint of spun sugar, golden raisin, and burn of ethanol. The nose is somewhat subtle, and doesn’t open willingly.
Sip: The body is moderate, and a subtle sweetness pervades out over time. There’s a lot going on as it moves from vanilla to caramel to roasted coconut. Something gradual starts to happen where the sugary flavor profiles start to morph into stone fruit, brandy, and other unexpected flavors.
Savor: The ending get almost sauternes like, pulling out flavors of ice wine, stone fruit, and hints of tropical fruits. The finish lingers pleasantly with a hint of tannic nature.
El Pasador de Oro XO is something interesting and unusual. If what they say is true, then the character is really a molasses based rum that’s doing a fun morph into a cognac at the end. That said, it’s very pleasant to sip, and straddles a line that fans of rum and cognac might enjoy.
In Cocktails:
In a Daiquiri, the cognac runs in full effect – almost giving a perception of a split base. While it’s obviously rum forward, it also ends up extremely fruity – emphasizing a lot of the raisin like and orange flavors in addition to the lime. The sweetness plays well and it ends up making a super inviting Daiquiri. That said, applications may end up a bit trial and error trying to balance the extra finishing notes. In a Grog, the rum disappears a bit, instead giving off more tropical fruit and honey notes. The caramel and toasty coconut hang out at the end, and the tannic nature pulls through.
In Review – El Pasador de Oro XO
El Pasador de Oro XO is a very pretty rum to sit and sip, and it even plays well in Grog. It isn’t a powerful bruising rum, but rather something elegant and slight. This same characteristic can make is slip away in cocktails. While it offers great flavors to them, finding the rum is a little tricky. If you want an in your face rum, you might find better options, but this is a great choice at the price to sit and enjoy.
If you’re looking for a second opinion on this not so well covered rum, check out the Rum Howler’s take.