Ron Zaya, the new Zacapa?

[J R]

Hi gang, firstly best wishes to anyone who was affected (directly or otherwise) by the recent events in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

I have been fairly busy lately and haven't been able to come on-line to tell you all about a great new rum I have discovered and now, subsequently, sell at Hi-Time. It's called Ron Zaya from Guatemala and I'd like to know if anyone's heard about it. I love this rum, it's dark yet light in the mouth, sweet, full of flavor, and very smooth. Unfortunately, Ron Zacapa was discontinued before I had the opportunity to get my hands on a bottle, but several of the people  I have asked to try Zaya say that it is very similar (if not better).

Anyway, any feedback would be great, but if you haven't yet tried this rum you must buy a bottle.

[ELA]

This should be interesting. I have not heard back from my friend yet, but I did not hear anything about it being discontinued. The importer dropped it, and it was gone for a while. Another importer just recently picked it up, and was supposedly ready to "get rolling".

Check some of the old threads here for the recent developments and history.

I never heard of this new one either.

Eric

[ELA]

Haven't heard anything back yet, but I am waiting for a call back from a friend of mine who should be able to clear up some this. Anybody else here anything?

Thanks.

Eric

[ELA]

OK, here is a bit of the story.

The original importer, as we all know, was Shaw Ross. They have "dropped" the rum and no longer import it. The new importer is not going to be Southern Wine (more on that in a moment). According to a very good friend of mine, the new importer is currently working on some things with the distillery in Guatamala, including marketing, promotion, advertising, etc. He has asked me not to disclose the name of the new importer.

However, when I asked about Southern Wine, I was told that Shaw Ross is another one of "their" companies, thus Southern Wine and Shaw Ross are part of the same group.

Moving forward, Southern Wine is going to be a distributor, not the importer. There will be other distributors accross the country.

I have not been able to find out about the "Zaya" aspect of the stroy, and I will have more details next week. They are expecting a major "rollout" of the Ron Zacapa heading into the holidays or around that time. Florida first, then California, followed by a fee owther Western States, then some more in the Southeast, and finally the Northeast (NY and NJ were specifically mentioned).

Stay tuned, more to come.

Eric

[John Moore]

Greetings to all,

I am the German importer of Ron Zacapa and Ron Botran.  I had the unique pleasure of seeing Ron Zaya go into the bottle in Guatemala.  It is an outstanding rum that pulls a great deal of its character from its Ron Zacapa roots.  If someone there manages to get a bottle please send it my way.

[John Moore]

Hello again,

A quick note about production methods in Guatemala.  There is no way that technological problems caused the lack of product in the U.S. market.  The facilities in Guatemala are state of the art, and La Nacional is one of the few players in the premium market that can boast total vertical and horizontal integration.  They own the whole show, from production of sugar cane, distillation, right through to the printing of labels.  They also have one of the largest reserves of "high aged" rum in the world.  I am quite sure that the current situation in the U.S. is only a temporary one.  For anyone that is REALLY desperate for the rum (which I can understand... it is fantastic stuff!), I will send special orders from Germany to get you all through until Zacapa is available from your local retailers.  Hope that helps.  Ciao for now.    

[Dan Smith]

Greetings,

I do not know if anyone is still interested in this tread, but I have just yesterday bought a bottle of Ron Zaya.  I got it at Hi Times Wines Cellar in Costa Mesa, CA.  I have also seen it at a liquor store in Miami, FL two weeks ago.  The shop is located on NW 7th st, east of the "9" and south of the "836" in Miami.  Hope that it helps out a little.

Cheers

[Jason Perlow]

I've also seen it at Astor Liquors in NYC in the East Village right by the Astor Place subway station. It goes for about $40.

Jason

[Dan Smith]

Greetings,

I had my first testing of Zaya this past Saturday, with my regular rum testing group of friends.  I'm sorry to say that our first impressions of the rum were nothing spectacular.  Some rums grow on me as time goes on as I drink them, like Mount Gay Extra Old...

I really wanted to like this rum, as I do Zacapa, but as of the first tasting... all that I can say is that it's no Zacapa!!!

We shall see what develops, and of course I'll let you all know.

Cheers

[Dan Smith]

Hey gang,

I just saw Zaya in Tulsa, OK.  I found in at a unbelievable $45.99 at a shop called Wine Rack (6953 S Lewis, Tulsa, OK 918-492-1220) on the corner of E 71st and S Lewis.

Just thought I'd keep the Zaya report up and going...

Cheers