Aroma visualization from community tastings
Dictador 12 Years
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Opinion here really divides. Almost everyone tastes the same thing: coffee, walnut, chocolate and caramel, with a sweet, syrupy body. Fans call it a lovely everyday sipper; skeptics say it reads more like coffee liqueur than rum and comes across too sweet and one-note. One taster nailed the split calling it "like super sweet coffee liquor." Pleasant, dessert-leaning, and easy to like or shrug off.
The community says- Coffee-chocolate nose
- Nutty and smooth
- But: Tastes sweetened
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How does Dictador 12 Years taste?
Summarized by AI from community reviews.
Sweet, coffee-and-walnut dessert sipper Most find it pleasant and easy — heavy on coffee, walnut and caramel. The recurring catch: it tastes sweeter than the label suggests, and detractors call it one-dimensional, almost liqueur-like.
Aroma profilePeople who like sweet, coffee-forward, easy sippers and dessert rums
Anyone wanting a dry, fruity or complex rum with real character
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
123 of 393 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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Recommendation
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Rated better
Dictador 20 Years
7.5/1042 €
More intense
Dictador 10 Years
7.0/1027 €
Similar rating, cheaper
Abuelo 12 Años
7.1/1027 €
Nothing for you?
4 more similar rums ›
First choice: 91 of 137 tasters who tried both prefer it.
What does the community say?
393 community reviews
46 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
One of the community's most-rated rums
Rate it in the appPositive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by Richard Colwell
This rum is simple, but pleasant. The dominant flavor (and nose) is maple syrup, with an overall sweet profile. Subtle baking spices and mild burned caramel bitterness. Smooth throughout the palate with a sweet finish.
Review by TheFrenchRefill
Most helpful positive review
I really enjoyed this rum, with its strong chocolate aroma and cappuccino mouthfeel. I really liked this rum
Review by Jean Louisss
Most helpful critical review
A walnut dipped in coffee!
Review by Rumpalumpa
I have to say, I really like the very unique aroma of the Dictador rums. It comes through especially well in the 12-year-old: Maggi, honey, and malt beer. Slightly roasted, sweet, and woody.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Had a very nice Dictador tasting this Sunday and this is the first one of the six. Despite this one being a young rum from the destillery it still manages to be very complex with a very nice nose and palate. The vanilla is perfectly matched with the rest and the finish is long and has a bit of smoke to it. All in all a very good price tag for this bottle. This bottle won gold at the International Rum Expert Panel 2010.
Review by Galli33
Buuh very unspectacular boring Rum. No fruits found there, only nuts, roasted aromas, wood, sweet caramles and a bit licorice. The alcohol is very present for the 40% only… Not really my taste of a good rum
Review by LukaŽiga
6,2:On the nose it is quite an unusual rum, heavy/sharp on the nose with notes of walnut nougat, coffee, marshmallow and vanilla. No feeling of smoothiness that comes in mouth yet.It feels pretty heavy, quite rigid. Airing doesn’t help much...We find some vegetal notes... Mouth shows a bit different story. 7:Complexity is felt pretty intense on the palate, where a heavy, Demerara sugar-fueled sweetness awaits. Notes of sweet cream and cinnamon stick give this a decadence usually only seen in ice cream or Mexican desserts, unctuous and becoming almost gaudy with its sweetness from the moment it hits the tongue. 6,2:The finish is medium and sweet. On its own, Dictador 12 can be a bit overwhelming, some drop of water could solve the issue for unexperienced drinkers...but as far as I am concerned, I do never want to use any outside help improving mediocre rhums or any other alcohol drinks. I Just don't drink them! Edit:30.1.26, as an ingredient in a port/rum Negroni, it fits perfectly well
Review by Vincent D
Un des premiers rhums que j'ai goûté au début de mon voyage. J'ai retrouvé une phot de la bouteille que j'avais à l'époque et que j'ai pu goûter de nouveau ce week-end. Trop sucré malheureusement mais j'avais apprécié à l'époque le gros marqueurs café.
Review by Anonymous
Smooth and Carmel flavored.
Review by F Kraemmer
Tasting d. 31.07.2026 RX 42 Dictator 12 years Nose: Walnut and coffee, nougat, light burnt sugar. Light mineral notes. Palate: Demerara sugar, dark sweetness, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, light vanilla. Residual taste is intense, nutty mainly walnut, burnt sugar and dark caramel. Sweet dried prunes, spiced with cinnamon and light black pepper. Fruit notes from black current, light gooseberrie bitterness. Glass: Light nutty oak Tasting: “Together with the princess”
Review by Eugene227
A sweet, coffee-forward rum. Nut, chocolate, caramel, and vanilla also shape the profile, giving it an almost dessert-like character. It's smooth and uncomplicated but feels one-dimensional. It works well as a simple sipper but doesn't bring depth or excitement.
Review by Martin Ekrt
Definitely a sniffing rum. Excellent combo of vanilla, barrel, dried fruit and nuts. Unfortunately, the taste is ruined for me by too much sweetness. It tastes like cheap Czech rums where sugar completely overpowers everything. Ideal solution: pour, sniff and throw back into the bottle 😀
Review by heckto🥃
Very pleasant nose with nut, caramel and chocolate aromas. On the palate, licorice, oak and woody roast aromas come through. For me, it is on par with its older brothers. A good rum at a top price.
Review by Daniel Jungberg.
Tasting at "Basecamp" on 20.08.2026 Sample from F. Kraemmer. Nose on an adventure👃: I sense chocolate & barrel as the most dominant scents, but there are also notes of coffee, raisins & light cinnamon. Tongue on an adventure 🥃: I taste dark chocolate, barrel & walnuts. The tail of the story💫: an intense & medium-long finish of barrel & coffee.
Review by Mate
My favorite rum. A little coffee, chocolate, a little tobacco, vanilla. For the price, I think it's a very good choice.
Review by Maxi
On the palate, a pleasant sweetness with notes of coffee, dark chocolate, and vanilla settles on the tongue. After 5 minutes of resting, nutty aromas reminiscent of walnut complement it. Compared to the Dictador 20, I find this one better and significantly more aromatic. Both taste quite similar, but the 12 feels stronger and more interesting while being more affordable.
Review by Rumantisch
Dictador was long one of my favorites, now it seems quite sweet to me. But the coffee note is just top. Sweet meets bitter wonderfully. For beginners who want to capture more flavor or still have a hard time with it, absolutely recommended as the coffee/cocoa notes are very dominant.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Raisin/walnut/sherry/honey and a slight inherent sweetness.... that with the 1g sugar per liter irritates me a bit because it feels sweeter.
Review by Alexander Rasch
My RumRatings review from 6 years ago - old bottling!! On the nose, I get Dictador's typical aromas of caramel, cocoa, roasted malt, and leather. I can hardly detect any coffee. On the palate, the rum is strong. Again caramel, smoke, malt, some cocoa, and vanilla. So far so good. Unfortunately, the leather note is way too pronounced, pushing to the front and overpowering everything. On the finish, there’s a distinct sharpness and the leather really doesn’t go away. After one glass, I was already done with it. After multiple tastings, I can say I just don’t like the rum subjectively. It’s also not particularly well balanced and I wonder who this rum is made for. At 30 euros, it’s in the entry-level price segment. You have to like the Dictador 12y, otherwise you won’t be happy here.
Review by F.L.O.
Kakao, Schokolade, süße….. Wenn da nicht Zucker im Spiel ist fress ich nen Besen, zumindest ein bisschen. Prinzipiell ganz ok für einen Einsteiger,- für mich aber zu süß. Und der Alkohol ist zwar ordentlich eingebunden, aber er harmoniert nicht mit dem Kaffee-Geschmack. Wirkt fast wie ein Fremdkörper. Klingt komisch…aber weniger Prozente täten dem Rum besser stehen. Und dann als Dash in den Kaffee Latte rein !
Review by Stefan Graßl
A bit of fruitiness would do it good.Overall very earthy/roasty.For me the flavor profile is a bit too one-sided.
Review by Kicker
Well rounded, roasted nuts, bit of raisins.
Review by rum_sk
Walnuts all the way, whether it is 👃 or 👅. Everything else is irrelevant, maybe I should mention it is a little bit alcoholic on the 👅. I cannot think that such taste of walnuts can be done naturally. This must be artificially added by non-natural processes and non-natural conpounds. It is medium sweet with short to medium finish.
Review by Tom K
coffee and fine
Review by ThreeH
Tasting at the GRF 2026 booth. Short review. Quite dark in color. On the nose, spicy and slightly oxidative notes. Also coffee, caramel, and syrup. On the palate, quite sweet even though not sweetened. Overall very approachable and mild on the spicy side. In the mid finish, a slight bitterness at the end. Decent rum, but not really my thing.
Review by Solidfunk
Honey and a little coffee, like some others have said. A hint of peat, maybe some smoke. Apricot. Like this a lot.
Review by Werner10
This one is great for beginners i think. It's not too sweet imo. This one still has the coffee flavors that are typical to Dictador rums.
Review by Montana
The smell is spicy and sweet (vanilla), somewhat medicinal. A taste of vanilla, slightly alcoholic, a bit of cherry.
Review by RumTaTa
At first moment I thought I had a coffee liqueur in the glass! Nose: super mild and one-sided after walnut and coffee. Walnut but very clear and defined. Mouth: Tastes like liqueur with 32% again with coffee and walnut. Finish: again the familiar notes and no surprise. A very homogeneous "drink". But too sweet and artificial for my taste.
Review by Markus Fjellstad Israelsen
Absolutely love the coffee and chocolate nose and taste. Very different from other rums I have tasted! Will definitely buy another bottle and also want to try other rums in their lineup.
Review by Fuhgetaboutit
Nose reminds me of maple waffle cereal from my childhood. Sweet. Easy. Long pours will be a struggle. Too smoky
Review by Kamil Čmiel
For me a very pleasant rum at an affordable price. Sweet with a pleasant aroma of nuts.
Review by Anonymous
A nice little rum in the lower price category. I didn't expect a miracle from it, but a bit more than this. A nice traditional rum, with mild coffee and chocolate notes, not sweet, but maybe the alcohol perception is too high for me which suppresses the flavor notes.
Review by Jan Králík
This rum was a big surprise for me. When I smelled it, the aroma of nuts and coffee with caramel really got me. The taste is exactly the same as the smell. The rum is really only slightly sweet and it's just right. It's very pleasant to drink.
Review by Thunderbird
For cake or dessert I find him okay! But overall too weak to arouse any emotions! The coffee / chocolate notes predominate.
Review by Adam Rajchert
Zapach: palony cukier, kawa, melasa, karmel wanilia, chipsy bananowe, cynamon, czekolada, chili, dąb, alkohol, coś co przypomina mi skórkę sera pleśniowego floralny zapach. Smak: bardzo słodki, rodzynki, figi, cynamon, chipsy bananowe, kawa, palony cukier, dębina, orzechy finish lekki, średnio długi, dębowy, kawowy, metaliczny Zwyczajny solidny hiszpański column still, niczym się nie wyróżnia.
Review by RumCzar
This is my dessert rum. It's heavily sweetened and quite syrupy. It's wood notes are well covered up with it's excessive sweetness. I exclusively drink this neat. I rebuy when it's on sale.
Review by Émile Shevek
Very similar to a PocketCoffee, so coffee predominates, then cocoa and in the short finish fresh and persistent licorice is added.
Review by Renato
Pleasant notes of coffee and walnut.
Review by JonasTh
Spicy. Quite tasty
Review by Barney487
Doesn't offer me a whole lot, pretty monotonous notes with little depth, must also have coloring because the color doesn't match the age, doesn't really develop much in the air either, in my opinion not worth buying
Review by Master P
For the price quite good, only after a few sips he has geschmecht me. Initially coffee, then vanilla wood and chocolate.
Review by Michael Janek
ZELIV, 2.6.1023, Velet XXVI I smell nothing the taste is a little heavier, denser, but slightly sweetened finish slightly simrajici
Review by Jonas Kofod
Smooth and easy. Brown sugar and vanilla/cinnamon.
Review by elias
Nice round rum with a finish of walnut.
Review by Jakub Hrubý
not much. compared to the 20y much worse
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Expert reviews
4 critics scored it, averaging 7.8/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by Zucker und Zeste
Very sweet for the stated sugar content of less than 1g. Bin so far always assumed that it is a sweetened rum. Beautiful aroma and a good PLV.
Expert review by RumRecenze.cz
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Expert review by Alkotip
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Expert review by RumRock
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Community shelf
726 bottles logged by 679 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
38% opened, 115 emptied.
What does Dictador 12 Years cost?
Community paid 23–49 €.
Current best price: 34.58 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 35 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
726 purchased · 440 tasted · 181 wishlist · as of
Details about Dictador 12 Years
A Pot & Column Still Rum from Colombia, distilled by Destilería Colombiana, at 40%.
About the Destilería Colombiana distillery
The Destilería Colombiana distillery is located in Colombia. Rums from Destilería Colombiana have been reviewed 1,933 times with an average of 7.5/10.
To Destilería Colombiana ›Read on in the RumX Guide
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