Dos Maderas Luxus. A Rum Too Good to Share?

During a rum tasting at The Breadfruit & Rum Bar in Phoenix, our host, rum expert, Dwayne Allen, prefaced the tasting of a premium rum with these words; “There are some rums you buy to serve in a cocktail at a party. There are some rums you buy to share only with the closest of friends & family, and there are some rums, well, that are so rare and special, that you save them just for yourself.”

Those words have remained etched in our brain as we have ventured into the world of fine rums – something we knew nothing about a few years ago.

Enter Dos Maderas 5+5. Also first experienced during a rum tasting, we immediately fell for it. Made by Williams & Humbert – a sherry maker, this rum is aged for 5 years in the Caribbean in bourbon casks and then taken to Jerez, Spain, where it’s aged for an additional 5 years in sherry casks. Unfortunately Dos Maderas 5+5 was not easily found, and we ended up ordering a couple of bottles from Hi Times Wine Cellars.

Sometime last summer, we noticed a post on the Dos Maderas Instagram page with a photo of Dos Maderas Luxus. Luxus, a blend of rums produced on the islands of Barbados and Guyana, is aged for 10 years in the Caribbean, then shipped to the Williams and Humbert facilities in Spain, where is rests for an additional 5 years in oak-wood sherry casks. Due to the age and intricate process, this luxurious rum costs a bit to procure – $125-150+ a bottle.

Since we’re quite fond of the 5+5, we immediately we began a search for the Luxus and mentioned it to our fellow rum aficionado, Dan. A few weeks later, we got a call from Dan, asking if we’d like to do a rum tasting of Luxus – he’d found a bottle and had it shipped to his home.

The exquisite elixir did not disappoint; very smooth, rich and complex, slightly sweet, with a subtle hint of sherry. One glass led to another until the bottle was half empty.

Luxus is a limited edition and Dos Maderas releases only 5,000 bottles of it a year. Although we feel Luxus might fall in the “rums so rare and special, that you save them just for yourself” category, it was definitely nice to share notes and thoughts with a friend. Thank you Dan, for letting us in on the Luxus experience!