Brugal Leyenda Rum: Legendary Irreconcilable Differences
Beautiful, legendary, and hailing from the Dominican Republic; Brugal Leyenda Rum has so much going for it, but…
She’s no good for you.
We’ve all been there, right? Stuck in a dead-end relationship you just can’t seem to quit. He or she certainly still turns you on, at least superficially. The loving, though, just ain’t what it used to be. Something’s always just off; so much so that your friends routinely hit you with the aforementioned advice you just can’t quite bring yourself to follow.
Yeah, that’s where I am with Brugal Leyenda.
She’s from the Dominican Republic, of course, though we met last summer at the airport in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. I was riding the incredible high of a family escape gone insanely well, thanks in large part to the amazing Empyrean Villas in North Caicos.
The wife and our twin teenage boys all had a blast. Any long-married parent of teenagers surely understands and can appreciate that this is a pretty neat trick worthy of celebration.
At first glance in the airport duty-free shop, Brugal Leyenda appeared an excellent choice for my well-earned cheers. Background info that I Googled and videos like the one below that I found while waiting for my flight only seemed to confirm my assumption.
The Legend Behind Brugal Leyenda
Leyenda (legend in English) was released in 2015 expressly in tribute of Brugal’s founder, Don Andrés Brugal Montaner. The brand carries a distinguished pedigree dating back 130+ years, so you can well imagine that they put a lot into making Leyenda super bueno.
This is plainly evident in the packaging.
The bottle is all kinds of sexy. Manufactured and designed by Allied Glass, the bottle is meant to reflect Brugal’s celebrated heritage and vaunted standing within the rum world. From the “Ron Dominicano” embossed across the bottom, to the bold lettering at center, including the signature of Don Andrés Brugal himself, Leyenda is truly easy on the eyes.
On the lips, though…
As beautiful as Leyenda is to look at, its flavor just doesn’t work for me. This is a bit surprising for me as I really like Leyenda’s aroma. There’s a slight bit of fire to it, balanced nicely with notes of caramel, oak barrels, and dried fruits.
Sampled neat, the dried fruits take over a bit too much for me. The warming burn comes at the finish offering a loving embrace of moderate length. That part I like. Up front, though, Leyenda comes off as too fruity-sweet (honeyed?) for my taste.
Adding a cube or two of ice only lessened what I like about Leyenda – the woodsy burn – while heightening what I don’t – those sweet dried fruits.
In the end, it just wasn’t meant to be for us. If you prefer your rum sweetly elegant and fruity, though, then you just might make a love connection with Brugal Leyenda.
¡Salúd!
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