I really have to stay away from the Traveling Side Shows. Why? 'Cause inevitably I'll run across another bit of tripe that requires a firm paw slap. As usual it's the inimitable Frozen Wolfie who can invent advice faster than the world can find questions. In this case...
Are Zacapa 23 Anos and 23 Solera the same? As is Wolfie's general practice and just to be safe (and to retain his "XP" status) he agrees and disagrees at the same time. Aaaaaooooooooooooo!
Let's disassemble this. Wolfie is saying his "23 Anos" and "Solera 23" are very different - but then defers to Lorena Vasquez who states they differ only in labeling, but who then defers to Wolfie and admits there may be (minor) differences by batch and over time - which Wolfie reluctantly accepts but - still insists they are different enough he'd recommend the "23 Anos" (as though it were a different rum). Are you clear on that?Wolfboy: "I own bottles of both the 23 Solera and the 23 Anos... The two bottles taste quite different to me, with the Anos being much less sweet than the solera... but when I was at a tasting featuring the Zacapa Master Blender, Lorena Vásquez Ampié, she made a point of telling us that the blend is always in a state of flux, and although they strive for a consistent style, the taste will change from batch to batch and from year to year. So the differences I observe may not be anything more than just those kinds of changes."
"I have never reviewed the 23 Solera on my website, but if I were to compare the two, I would have to admit I prefer the Anos by a wide margin."
No? It's simple. They're different, the same but possibly slightly different, the same but - finally - signficantly different. So look for the "23 Anos", knowing even this label - though the same - may be different. Now surely, that is clear. Isn't it?
What Wolfie is really saying is that he attended Miami's Rum Rennaisance. I can only imagine Lorena Vasquez' reaction when faced with this bumbling Canadian claiming his two bottles of Zacapa were so dramatically different. The vendors at these events are forced to face the faceless, frivolous masses and any number of ridiculous questions.
Let's start here.
1. Zacapa has changed their label (and bottle) more than once, but trust me it's the same rum. The bottle labeled "23 Anos" was changed when Zacapa was criticised for implying their "solera" rum was 23 years old. An average of 8 years is more like it. So the label - and label only - was changed to "Solera 23".
2. Even the "Solera 23" label is misleading as Zacapa's "solera" has gotten a year older each year since it's inception. To be honest, it oughta be called Solera 33 or something by now, but that would be unbelievable. But then again so was the original claim.
But Wolfie's cover-your-tail, same-but-different answer inadvertantly raises an important issue.
3. Wolfie claims a significant difference in his two bottles, which Vasquez counters by noting there are "batch to batch" and "year to year" differences!! This flys in the face of a true solera, which is designed to both add complexity and to preserve consistency by the solera blend which consists of rums of all the years since it's inception.
Someone's lying!
Read that again. A true solera - properly designed and used - practically eliminates batch or yearly variation. Who is right, Wolfie or Vasquez? My guess...
They both are! Wolfie by accident, and Vasquez on purpose...
If you've ever examined Zacapa's flow chart for their rums, you'll quickly realize it is far from a true solera. This chart looks like it was drawn by a rum sotted monkey, with several of their rums - the 15, the 23 and the XO - are drawn in whole or in part part from the end or "bottom" stock which contains the oldest rums in this quasi-solera.
I've always maintained that Zacapa is really a blend. Their solera claim is shaky at best, as evident by their own flowchart. Wolfie's tongue wagging rumfest interchange with Lorena, no doubt surrounded by glass waving attendees, might just be on the money.
Even a blind wolf occasionally finds a dead moose, and it may be the Wolf has stumbled upon an accidental truth. Aaaoooooooooooo!
Bottom Line:
Either Zacapa 23 is a solera or not. If it is, in finding such dramatic differences the Frozen One has fallen prey to his own amateur, bitter-based, tannic tasting palate. True soleras do not exhibit such changes. If it isn't he may have provoked Vasquez' admission of a very nasty secret - Zacapa is not a true solera after all, but simply a blending scheme that would indeed suffer batch to batch differences.
Here's to Wolfie! Let's raise a glass of Zacapa Blended Rum to the Frozen One. May he stumble and step on yet another ambassador's foot...
