Pampas Zorro Paraguay Unaged Cane Juice Rum
Reviewer: Tashtego
Distillery: Legado
Origin: Arroyos y Esteros, Paraguay
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Bottle Count: Unstated
ABV: 60.5%
Distilled: Unstated
Base Material: Cane juice
Still: Pot still
Aging specs: Unaged
Bottled: Unstated, purchased 2025
Nose: Fermenting cane juice, citrus, strawberry, funk
Palate: Bright cane sugar, lime, brine, caramel, vanilla, green apple, minerality
Finish: Lemon lime soda
From Paraguay comes this unaged Pampas Zorro, imported by the rum aging experts at Rolling Fork. They debuted a few rums from Legado distillery last year, with this bottle coming under the Pampas Zorro brand (named for a native fox). While a few IBs bottle Paraguay rums, it’s still an interesting origin - a landlocked South American country far away from the Caribbean. This is a pot still cane juice rum that’s been allowed to ferment for up to 15 days, which should impart some interesting esters and additional flavor. It’s potent, too, bottled at just over 60%.
On the nose, there is a big whiff of esters. While there are citrus notes and some strawberry, I mostly get that cane juice nose and some funk - probably from that long fermentation and the pot still distillation process. It packs a punch for something that doesn’t sound terribly interesting (unaged cane juice rum). On the palate, this is so bright and expressive. Similar to a good blanco tequila, it’s got a lot of fresh fruit notes alongside some of that minerality and funk I smelled on the nose. This tastes kind of like the image on the bottle - warm fields of sugar cane, maybe some ozone like it just started to rain. The terroir of the Arroyos y Esteres region seems interesting (it translates to “streams and swamps;” nothing to do with esters, unfortunately) - you feel like you can taste it. But this is nothing like a Martinique agricole rum, more like an unaged Jamaican rum (I’m thinking of the Skurnik 9th Floor bottle from Worthy Park). It’s shockingly smooth for the proof, and sweet. On the finish there’s a bit of a Sprite flavor that stays with you.
I enjoyed this both neat and in a daiquiri. It’s got so much to offer for an unaged cane spirit. It might work in a Ti Punch as well, or even in drinks that call for lightly aged rums. For Taste, I’ll give this a solid 3. It’s a playful rum that punches above its weight. For Haste, I’ll go even higher and give it a 4 since, and here’s the good news, this is just $25. This might be the best unaged rum you can buy for that price. It’s an incredible deal that’s still available on their website as of this writing. There are two other Paraguay rums that Rolling Fork put out from this distillery, and hopefully I’ll get around to reviewing those at some point.
Taste/Haste Scale: 3 / 4
