Aroma visualization from community tastings
Zafra Master Reserve 21
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Caramel, vanilla and cedar wood up front, with toffee, orange peel and a bit of nut underneath. Classic Panama Spanish style: soft, lightly sweetened, and easy to drink. Several tasters call it a great everyday sipper and a step toward less-sweet rum, though a few find the nose promises more than the palate delivers and call it a touch one-dimensional.
The community says- Smooth and easy
- Caramel-vanilla warmth
- Keep in mind: Tastes sweetened
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The look inside the bottle
How does Zafra Master Reserve 21 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Soft, lightly sweet Panama easy sipper Well-balanced, gently sweet Panama sipper most people enjoy neat. The catch: it's smooth but a bit reduced, and a few feel the flavor thins out and leans too sweet.
Aroma profilePeople easing off sweet rum toward drier styles, and fans of soft Spanish sippers
Anyone wanting bold, dry, high-ester rum or avoiding sugar
Style & occasion: Sweet & dessertSipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
47 of 140 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
Buying advice
Is it right for you?
Yes, if you're after sweet, dessert-like rums for sipping neat.
Similar in style and available now.
Woodier
Alcoholes Y Rones de Panama SA Origenes 18 Years7.8/10 (59)84.98 €
More intense
Goslings Old Rum („Family Reserve“)7.5/10 (90)93.52 €
22 rated both: 10 scored it higher, 10 scored Zafra higher, 2 gave both the same score.Rated better
Malteco Malteco 25 Years - Reserva Rara7.8/10 (41)73.12 €
Similar rating, cheaper
Malecon 21 Years - Reserva Imperial7.6/10 (38)61.85 €
Drier
Chairman's Reserve The Forgotten Casks7.5/10 (274)48.29 €
What does the community say?
140 community reviews
Rating scale & review checks
On RumX, 7 means “Good” and 8 means “Very good”.
See the full rating guideHow ratings are made and how we check them ›The website shows a selection of written reviews. The distribution also includes ratings without text. All published reviews are available in the RumX app.
36 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 140 ratings, including those without text.
Review by Stefan Persson
Most helpful positive review
One of few Spanish styled Ron’s that I still like. Panama seems to be my favorite country of origin when it comes to sweet Spanish rum. It’s complex, not too sweet, smooth, has rich flavors and a very nice finish.
Review by Don Grisu
Most helpful critical review
Quite good but not my favorite.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
A wonderful balanced nose a bit woody with vanilla. Leave it for 15 minutes and the flavours come running at you even without putting your nose to the glass. The palate shows a well rounded full body rum with an extremely long finish. Leaving the glass after you finish will reveal a wonderful woody/spice nose.
Review by cigares
A woody/vanilla nose with caramel, but more complex aromas appear such as orange zest and walnut. The palate is unsurprisingly smooth, with cedar wood, vanilla and brown sugar, with toffee, butter and walnut in the background. The finish is rather long for this type of rum, with cedar and orange lingering on the palate. A very nice surprise in terms of taste but also quality/price. Despite the sugar, the aromas are very present, although the whole is a little one-dimensional.
Review by Timo Groeger
Day trip Baltrum September 2024. Sturm-Eck pub. Here is a Zafra Master. Great nose, which is rather sweet and consists of caramel, vanilla and wood. Toffee is then added on the palate. Slightly sweet, but still within limits.
Review by djehey
Easy and nice rum.
Review by Joachim Guger
The best in the hotel bar. Typical Panama. Dried fruit and tobacco. Nose promises more than is delivered in the mouth. Too sweet. Still better than the other sugared epigones like Zacapa or Diplomatico.
Review by Maxi
Poured into the glass, the Zafra 21 initially impresses with fruity, raisin-like sherry nuances on the nose. But you can also detect earthy and grassy scents as well as vanilla. On the palate, there are no more fruity notes but rather spice. Roasted nuts meet dark chocolate, pepper, and vanilla. Clear woody tones come through as well. I imagined it to be much sweeter. The focus is clearly more on the spices. The finish is medium and dominated by chocolatey and peppery notes. After another 5 minutes in the glass, the rum is noticeably milder and gentler. Also, the raisin sherry notes that were previously only detected on the nose now come through on the palate. Regarding the price, I'm torn. I think there are better options for significantly less money. On the other hand, you have to consider that this is a 21-year-old rum (real age statement, no solera process).
Review by Anatoli Schlee
You often realize how good a rum is only when it's all gone. This is probably the best easy sipper I've ever had. Easy was also the price. I paid 50 EUR for a 21yo back then. Awesome. But those times are over. Spanish style in the best sense. The Zafra was not really dry but also not a dessert rum. Yes, my taste has also evolved since then but the Zafra can return to my shelf anytime. PS: that was my review 4 years ago: "Unlike many other Spanish style Rons this one is surprisingly dry. And its only purpose to please the drinker without challenging him. With its price of about 50 EUR for 70cl it perfectly qualifies as random good times rum without being sorry moneywise. Unless you are within the top 0.01% rum snobs who won't appreciate diluted rums you can't be disappointed."
Review by Johannes
Not bad at all! Beautiful Panama notes, unfortunately overall too reduced and perhaps minimally sweetened.
Review by BoAlbertsen
Dejlig sød med masser af vanilje smag, nødder
Review by Christoph
Light Cointreau that loses to the back.
Review by Andreas Egge
Spanish style, which I still like. Panama seems to be my favorite country of origin when it comes to sweet Spanish rum. It's complex, not too sweet, smooth, has rich flavors and a very nice finish.
Review by Stan Hardy
Love at second sight. A great rum for people who are about to switch to unsweetened rum. Only lightly sweetened. Unobtrusive, moderately complex and very balanced. I doubt the 21 years and the price is also steep. Rum great, value for money meh.
Review by Alexander Rasch
My RumRatings review from 5 years ago: The Zafra Master Reserva 21 is a molasses rum from Panama that is supposedly aged a real 21 years in bourbon barrels. The rum, made using the column still process, is bottled at a meager 40% alcohol. The beautiful mahogany-colored dark rum comes in a rather uninspired bottle, which looks boring and not high-quality. Sugar is added. About 15g/l. The rum is appealing on the nose and has nice oak and wood notes. Caramel and vanilla are there, as well as dried fruits like raisins. On the palate, the rum is a good mix of dry and sweet, fruit and spice. Caramel and fruit are captured by oak wood and vanilla. All quite appealing. The finish is only medium length and is accompanied by wood, a bit of nutmeg, and barrel notes. I found the rum a bit thin and watery when drinking. The sharpness was not well integrated even though it wasn't intrusive or intense. Overall, I find the rum quite successful as what it is, but it definitely lacks the kick. That certain something extra. It gets boring over time. The body could be fuller, which would certainly highlight the existing complexity even more. For me, the rum is too heavily diluted and 43% or 45% would do it good. Added to that is the rather unclear marketing and the too high price.
Review by Blaidor
Smell 7/10 Taste 7,5/10 Aftertaste 6/10 Image 6,5/10 (info about rum, bottle, carton-box, sugar free, marketing....) Total impression 7/10 ------------------ BTL
Review by Tropical Island Vibes
One of my favorite runs. Smooth and a hint of bourbon on the taste. I’m not a fan of bourbon but it works perfectly here! Not overpowering and top rum for the price point.
Review by hugo148
Very nice sweet nose but too little intensity. On tasting it's good but not amazing... a bit too diluted... very short finish. I'm not a big fan of this type of rum.
Review by Oliver
Very tasty Spaniard Not quite as sweet A bit rougher than the Zafra 30
Review by René Müller
A little flat in both aroma and taste. Good spicy aftertaste.
Review by rum_sk
Sweet supple and very well balanced. The price however is a topic for a different discussion.
Review by Michael Janek
voni nakourena čokoláda, prijemna po tom overproof zabijakovi příjemně pohlazení
Review by Pedro Jnv
Chutí mi viac ako asi najbližší konkurent Zacapa
Review by J.V.
Great sweet rum, without being overly sweet. A natural vanilla note combined with toffee, wood and roasted aromas. Reminds me strongly of the Origenes 8 but much more mature and above all milder. Nothing scratches here yet there are light pepper and nutmeg notes. Simply top!!!
Review by Vít Jurka
Chutné dá se pít
Review by Jakob Deiner
Primarily aromas of vanilla and (dark) caramel, paired with wood/oak and somewhere far in the background maybe a bit of dried fruit. The finish is slightly dry, a few tannins, almost a bit bitter. I wouldn't really put it in the 'dessert rum' category. It's not bad, but in my opinion, it's expensive for what it offers. A bit in the direction of the Centenario 20, which is a bit sweeter and minimally fruitier, but has almost the same, to my taste rather bitter finish. I personally prefer the much cheaper Origenes 8 (also Panama, also Don Pancho, creamier, milder, rounder, no bitter notes) and especially Matusalem 15 (creamier, milder, sweeter, rounder, less complex but also less edgy) in that direction. Drinks: - Neat: 3.5/5 - Rum Punch: 3/5
Review by Solidfunk
Definitely a nice long finish on this one, with notes of white pepper. Comes on sweet initially, mostly cane juice and dried apricot. Maybe orange peel. Had a glass of this at Cluhbouse One in Miami Airport.
Review by Ian Gilman
First foray into pricier rums and I enjoyed it but it has become too sweet for my taste.
Review by Lukáš Jarník
Pleasantly gentle. One is enough. Not for the whole evening
Review by Anonymous
Une belle note de caramel Doux en bouche De belles touches de vanilles et de boisé
Review by Motvind
Dofter av trä, karamell och vanilj. Smakerna är som doften men en aning sötare.
Review by Ondrej Czinege
Dobrý chuť i vůně, pekne pitelny
Review by Anonymous
A classic sweetened Spanish heritage rum. Smooth and clean, not many flavors. Very drinkable but not interesting.
Review by Mike Andersen
Missing more sweetnes for my pallet. A bit to strong on spirit opening
Review by Richard Krupa
Reminds me of Diplomatico, very sweet, a little orrisy, but not offensive
Review by Anonymous
Not really my thing! Thought it would be sweeter
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
Zafra Master Reserve 21 at live auctions
A bid is not a final price: the house sets the buyer's premium, shipping and any customs duty.
All live auctions ›Community shelf
204 bottles logged by 177 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
35% opened, 28 emptied.
What does Zafra Master Reserve 21 cost?
Community paid 49–85 €.
Current best price: 77.90 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 66 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
204 purchased · 154 tasted · 87 wishlist · as of
Details about Zafra Master Reserve 21
A Column Still Rum from Panama, distilled by Las Cabras, at 40%.
About the Las Cabras distillery
The Las Cabras distillery is located in Panama. Rums from Las Cabras have been reviewed 830 times with an average of 7.3/10.
To Las Cabras ›Read on in the RumX Guide
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