Rum Review: Dos Maderas 5+3
Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum Review
As we covered in my review of the 5+5, Dos Maderas means “two woods” in Spanish. I felt the 5+5 was very heavy handed in the Sherry department; let’s see if the 5+3 manages to impart flavor while maintaining more of a rummy flavor profile.
The clear bottle has an old time feel with mechanically tattered parchment label and bulb neck that feels good in the hand. The closure is cork with a nicely formed plastic top adorned with the Dos Maderas ship logo. The 5+3 is bottled at 40% and retails for about $30.
In the glass, the rum presents a rich golden copper color. A swirl yields a viscous ring atop the glass, which produces a small and quick set of legs.
On the nose, it offers light, bright, and dusty aromas with a suggestion of Sherry. Digging deeper, I detect dark plum and cherries. After the fruit is more dust and some plastic–not delightful.
The rum enters with a bit of heat for a 40% spirit, with pepper and cinnamon leading the way. Just past the heat is the Sherry and stone fruit, then comes some orange zest. Subsequent sips show an almost bubble gum-like quality that sits atop the cherries. After this is a pronounced pineapple note. The dusty quality never really dissipates, and is present on the long finish that also shows other unpleasant qualities including pencil shavings and saccharin sweet bitterness.
Although far less heavy-handed than the rum-flavored Sherry that is the Dos Maderas 5+5, the 5+3 doesn’t come together for me either. The saccharin bitterness lingers far too long to make this enjoyable, and $30 is quite a pretty penny for a mixing rum.
On to the scores:
- Appearance 1/1
- Aroma 1.5/2
- Mouth feel .5/1
- Taste 2.5/4
- Aftertaste 1/2
- Total 6.5/10
Inu A Kena 
Ever tried the Dos Maderas Luxus?