Ecuador Encore: El Amparo v. Ecuador Malacatos (1423 SBS Origin) rum reviews, Puro de Surales again

Last year Puro de Surales single-handedly aware'd me that 1) Ecuador makes cane juice rum and 2) it can be friggin' amazing. I absolutely loved that bottle (   • Cane Juice World Tour, Ecuador: Puro de Su...   ), to the degree that it easily found its way into my top five from last year (   • The Top Ten Spirits of 2023!   ). And now I'm delighted to report that it has some competition. So that's the theme of today's flight, two relatively new cane-juice based rums from various towns in Ecuador - with Surales also hopping in at the last second, just for fun. Stats: Ecuador Malacatos Single Origin Rum (Malacatos, Loja, Ecuador; bottled by 1423 SBS Origin; wild-fermented, column-distilled cane juice, distilled in 2022; 57% ABV), 87/100 El Amparo Rum (Jipijapa, Manabi, Ecuador; farmed and distilled by Carlos Baque Zorrilla; wild-fermented, column-distilled cane juice, L. 1/23, bottled circa 2023; 57.5% ABV), 87/100 El Amparo from Velier is super-unique: imagine the cane juice rum you'd break out for your amaro-loving friends from Greenpoint and you'd be pretty close. The Malacatos is more classical savory caney stuff, a hair on the austere side but really beautiful (especially with a splash of water). I don't think either matches the Surales, but both are total bangers and all three are well worth your attention. Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) - Eric Amig Jamie Brown Kingsbury bushcraft Rob D Liam Davitt Joe Devine Stephen Eckert eon Ingmar nine Steve Frazee Ian Gendler John Halliday Jason Newquist Kyaru No Thanks Chris Rhodes Randy Rice Matthew Ruiz RumSquirrel Dallas Shatel Chris Sherman Gordon W Zach W