Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale

Didn’t know what to expect on this one but enjoyed it in every way. Nose and palate are completely different. Tasty!

Super rhum, vraiment de qualité, il vaut son prix. Un must have pour un collectionneur de rhum ou qui veut avoir une bonne cave à proposer !

A very odd and unique bird in the rum world. Made from pure cane juice but you would swear it’s a molasses rum. The Limousine barrels or the second distilling in pot stills must work magic because it’s unlike any other pure cane juice rhum you’ve ever tried. My issue with Barbancourt is this: As a technical oddity I find it fascinating but if someone had told me this is just another smooth bajan or st lucian rum I would’ve enjoyed it but then quickly forgotten about it. Yes, it’s unique in cane juice rums, but the flavor of that uniqueness is not itself unique. I love it to be sure but I dont enjoy it more than I do, say, a standard bottle of chairman’s reserve. Special note must be made to their production methods where they do genuinely help a lot of small farmers in Haiti.

A bottle given by my sister for Christmas 2024. On the nose, quite flattering on fruit with baked apple, with a little vanilla and grey pepper. The palate is quite strong in alcohol, with an integration of the alcohol that could have been better. Few aromas apart from light vanilla and a tiny bit of oak. A very ephemeral finish that leaves nothing memorable. Not much to say about this rum, which remains pleasant but forgettable.

Round and very balanced. A rather "flat" nose, but full of complexity and flavor. Very pleasant

A light rum, mainly driven by sugar and caramel notes. Great price to quality, as I paid 20€ for a bottle, this could be a great entry level for beginners while rum lovers could skip it, the sweetness is too relevant and almost artificial (even if I do not think this rum does have any additive)

Nose is light. Sweet with honey and sugar cane and oak counter. Taste is much more interesting. Oak, spice, pepper and toasted notes. All this with a touch of sugar cane sweetness. In-between all of that is cacao and really dark caramel. All is really nice combine. Finish is medium-short with quickly fading spice and more present sweetness Overall it is really nice rum for sipping and cocktails. I think it should be more define and have stronger flavour

Burn. Wood with peppery finish. Then it’s gone. Lingering barrel.

This rhum has grown endearing over time. At first I was disappointed that the flavors of the Haitian OP were subdued by the cask aging, but compared to it's contemporaries it's managed to keep a lot of flavor without becoming overly woody. I drink this neat. I will rebuy.

Rhum assez inexistant surtout au nez. Bouche, assez plate. La longueur est moyenne à courte, sec, épicé .

Dégusté au salon Rhum Fest Paris, notes partielles. EDIT : trop simple et pas assez long. C’est plutôt amusant, je n’ai pas de points de comparaison avec d’autres barbancourt dans mon souvenir. Globalement trop acqueux et un peu d’alcool quand même pour ce degrés là, mais sinon on a un nez melon/pasteque puis une bouche carrément sur les épices, il n’y a presque que ça…

Vegetal. Meady. Not my style

Its low price and simplicity make it a good starter for someone new to rum. Still, it's a little alcoholic and slightly spicy. But it also offers some pleasant palettes of grassy vanilla sugar. I preferred it to the 15 ans

Tragedie to i ta 4y je lepsi jak osmicka

Woody, but in a really sawdusty way. Refractometer: 15.0% brix