The Cihuatan XO Xaman 16yo is a masterfully crafted molasses rum hailing from the picturesque Cihuatan Valley in El Salvador. Aged for a total of 16 years, this exquisite rum spends 15 years maturing in ex-bourbon American oak barrels before undergoing a unique one-year finishing process in locally sourced Ceiba Maya wood, also known as the cheese tree. This special finishing process imparts a smooth, complex, and well-rounded flavor profile, making it a truly distinctive spirit.
This rum is produced by Licorera Cihuatan, a reputable craft distillery founded in 2004 with a mission to create rums that symbolize the essence of El Salvador. The distillery meticulously oversees every step of the production process, from cultivating and harvesting their own molasses to the final blending, ensuring the highest quality in every bottle.
The Cihuatan XO Xaman is named in honor of Xaman, the Maya god of the North Star and protector of the Cihuatan Valley. The legend speaks of a sleeping woman in the nearby mountain who gazes upon the North Star, adding a touch of mystique to this exceptional rum.
Visually, the rum boasts a rich, dark color and provides a one-of-a-kind tasting experience. The aroma is an inviting blend of clove, pineapple, banana, dried fruit, and roasted almonds. On the palate, it's velvety and sweet, featuring flavors of toffee, vanilla, and pineapple, complemented by notes of caramel, chocolate, and lightly roasted wood.
The meticulous aging process in American oak ex-bourbon casks followed by a year in Mayan Ceiba casks results in a smooth, complex, and well-balanced rum with an ABV of 40%. This creates a round flavor profile with hints of melted cane sugar, orange peel, vanilla, caramel, molasses, and a subtle roastiness. Aeration further enhances the caramel, molasses, and oak characteristics, interspersed with softly spicy notes.
The Cihuatan XO Xaman 16yo is often likened to a little orange treat, with candied citrus peel coated in milk chocolate and a thin slice of caramel-encrusted oak. In summary, this rum is a unique and high-quality offering from El Salvador, with a smooth and complex flavor profile that is sure to delight any rum enthusiast. Its distinct aging process and connection to Mayan culture and legends promise a one-of-a-kind tasting experience.
The Cihuatan XO Xaman 16yo rum comes from the Cihuatan Valley in El Salvador.
Its uniqueness comes from the 16-year aging process, including 15 years in ex-bourbon American oak barrels followed by one year in Mayan Ceiba wood barrels, imparting distinctive flavors.
The alcohol by volume (ABV) of the Cihuatan XO Xaman 16yo rum is 40%.
This rum is produced by Licorera Cihuatan, a craft distillery in El Salvador founded in 2004.
The rum offers a complex blend of fruity, spicy, and sweet flavors, including notes of pineapple, banana, clove, vanilla, caramel, cocoa, and roasted wood.
While opinions vary, some reviewers feel that the price is a bit high for what it offers at 40% ABV, though many appreciate its unique and smooth flavor profile.
Overall, the Cihuatan XO Xaman 16yo rum receives mixed reviews. Many appreciate its smoothness and complex flavor profile, highlighting fruity, spicy, and sweet notes. However, some find it less impressive due to its price and 40% ABV, which leads to a shorter finish. Despite some critiques, it's recognized as a well-rounded, enjoyable rum, suitable for sipping and adding to any collection.
Spirit Radar is my daily tool that become crucial for my busines. As an independent bottler I follow my bottles (The Colours of Rum) on various e-commerce sites. On the other hand, a spirits' collector I use Spirit Radar to chase bottles I want to buy or sell. I also use "my collection" tool to value my own bottles. Spirit Radar become really useful and I can see the team works systematically to improve the app. I will surely remain loyal user.
CEO Wealth Solutions SA
We have used Spirit Radar since the very beginning. Both in our business and for private use. It is a fantastic tool to keep you updated in the market. It can be very time consuming to find an exact bottle somewhere in the world, but with Spirit Radar, you can get that information within seconds. We have also used it when we need to keep track of our bottles and see what our customers wants. Besides that, its an interesting platform, when you want to explore the rum world, or search for bottles that could be really hard to find in the normal stores. It is very easy and intuitive to use.
MasterTaster at RomDeLuxe
Ardbeg Traigh Bhan Batch No.1 Small Batch Release 19yo 46.2% 700ml
Macallan Edition No.1 Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky 48% 750ml
LM&V 2019 Hampden Great House 59% 700ml
Velier Caroni 1998 Dennis X Gopaul Employees 1st Release 20yo 69.5% 700mlSpirit Radar gathers as much information and data as possible about each bottle. We have collected historical offers and auctions for each bottle, sometimes dating back to 2012.
We constantly check every site for new and updated offers. When a bottle becomes in stock, we know it within minutes.
We use all this data to compute the market value of each bottle. As a result, you can see the price trend of each bottle and find the best place to buy it.
In addition, we constantly expand our database: we add new bottles, online stores, and auction portals. Find new releases and rare bottles for the best prices.
Spirit Radar allows you to add bottles to your watch list. When we find a bottle from your watch list in stock, we will send you a notification. You can also set a maximum price you are willing to pay, and we will ignore all more expensive offers.
We check every site multiple times a day, the hottest bottles even every few minutes. You will be one of the first to know when a bottle becomes available to buy.
When we find an auction of a bottle you watch, we will notify you before it ends. You can disable all auction-related notifications or disable them for individual bottles.
Do you know the current value of your collection? And how has it grown during the last 30 days? Spirit Radar makes it simple. Just add bottles to your collection and enter purchase prices.
Every day, you'll get an updated value of your collection and how much you gained since you purchased the bottles. These statistics are provided for your entire collection, as well as for individual bottles.
Security is our top priority. Only you can see your collection and statistics.
