Buy The Demon's Share

The Demon’s Share is a Panamanian brand playing firmly in the soft, sweet Spanish (Ron) tradition rather than the dry, pot-still school. Its bottles carry devilish names — El Oro, La Reserva Del Diablo, Rodrigo’s Reserve — and lean into an accessible, dessert-leaning profile that has pulled in casual drinkers and split the enthusiast crowd.

The rums are aged in Panama, with the older expressions like the 15-year Reserva De Bodega spending real time in cask, and finishes such as the Chianti Barrel Finish and sherry-influenced Rodrigo’s Reserve adding a fruity, wine-touched layer. What runs through nearly every review is sweetness: vanilla, caramel, candied orange and butterscotch dominate, with several members flagging added sugar and an occasionally artificial, bonbon-like edge.

The range walks up in age and price. El Oro Del Diablo is the young, bourbon-cask-tasting entry, full of fruit and vanilla and drinkable on its own. La Reserva Del Diablo is the most reviewed and best-known, with panettone, orange and marzipan notes. Reserva De Bodega is drier and better balanced, with dried fruit, spice, leather and a light coffee note that regulars rate as the pick of the lineup. The nine-year Rodrigo’s Reserve and the Chianti Barrel Finish are more divisive — heavily sweet, one leaning almost toward Amaretto.

Most people drink these neat, slowly, as an after-dinner or fireside pour on a cold evening, ideally alongside sweet pastries. The spiced, sweeter releases also work well long with cola if you want them relaxed rather than contemplative. If you prefer bone-dry, funky rums, this brand won’t be your thing; if you like your rum soft, fruity and easy, it delivers exactly that.