Saint Aubin Extra Old Rum Single Cask 2005 17yr 47%

"A truly elegant representative of the sugar cane juice distillates and the current top product of the Saint Aubin distillery, before it is replaced by a 20y at the end of 2023 to mark the 20th anniversary of the first sugar cane juice bottling in Mauritius. It seems rounder and naturally older than the 15y from 2003, but also a little more boring, which is why both rhums are on a par for me. Unfortunately, the price even at the distillery is above the EUR 300 mark. However, one should not forget that this is an unusually long aged agricultural rum (single cask), which is apparently not to be found in Europe. Update 2024-06-13: Tasted it again directly at the distillery and I just have to upgrade it a bit, as it is really rounder and comes up with significantly less whisky influence than the 15-year-old Saint Aubin (2003)."

"8,6:On the nose, the first impression we get is very pleasant, as there are vegetal and fruity notes with honeyed yellow fruits, flowery, chamomile, the sugarcane is juicy and mineral, waxy.The sandal wood is roasted with caramel, walnut, a bit spicy. On aeration, citrus like orange peel and dried fruits like figs come out, with some solvents, vegetal notes with perfume and tobacco.The fruits become candied.We feel dryness.The rum is complex, but balanced. 8,3:On the palate, the attack is intense with spices, citrus and roasted, resinous wood, a bit unpleasant, bitter at first.It settles down quickly and becomes delicious with waxy, honeyed and mineral sugarcane, yellow, red fruits, melon with pleasant combination of cocoa, brine and pepper, nicely balanced. The wood is charred after some rest, with roasted nuts, chocolate and banana pastry. 8,6:The finish is long, tasty with sweet, honeyed, waxy and mineral sugarcane, yellow fruits and ripe banana, woody, dry, spicy, with vanilla and baked apple after a while, flowery."

"Das ist mal eine spannende Abfüllung! Selten so viel Frucht außerhalb einer High-Ester-Abfüllung geschmeckt. Tropischer Früchtekorb, bei der die Zitrusfrüchte klar dominieren. Die 17 Jahre im Fass haben durchaus Spuren hinterlassen, jedoch weniger, als man es bei dieser Anzahl erwarten würde. Die Bitterkeit hält sich angenehm in Grenzen und das Holz macht sich vor allem durch eine pflanzlich-harzige Note bemerkbar. Irgendwie erinnert mich das an den harzigen Geruch von Rosmarin, allerdings ohne die eigentliche Rosmarin-Note. Ein paar Prozent mehr hätten ihm gut getan, von ein paar Euro weniger ganz zu schweigen… Sonst eine wirklich tolle Abfpllung!"