Velier Domaine de Courcelles Grande Réserve

"Wow, a real aroma spectacle. Cherry gummy bears, sherry and a great woody influence. Extraordinarily good!"

"Courcelle firecracker! 😊 My favorite of the whole Courcelle range, although the price difference makes me seriously lean towards the 3 alternatives from Switzerland. Wonderful rums which are balanced and very complex to enjoy."

"Blind Community Tasting Courcelles 1972 by Jakob Extremely fruity and red fruits play almost the sole leading role on the nose (apart from the perfume). Great. Picks me up extremely. A little darker on the palate but still extremely fruity. Possibly with a few boiled ones. Vanilla, cinnamon and somehow sparkling. Above all, long-lasting and developing. Clearly the best of the bunch for me."

"Outstanding stuff! Overall clearly a couple of points ahead of the Rhum House bottlings (which are amazing as well). Intense and complex on the nose. Thick boild down fruits take center stage combined with a mix of Christmas-y spices, some chocolate, honey and an amazing perfume note in the back. Similar notes on the palate with a well balanced delivery. Very elegant. Top notch! Cheers Jakob for the set!"

"Just wow, the only downside to going over 90 is the slight lack of length."

"RumX Community Tasting - Domaine de Courcelles (thanks to Jakob) Four bottlings in the blind tasting, 2008, 2014 and 2022 from Rhum House and 2005 from Velier. We were quite unanimous about the winner of the evening, and how else could it be, it was the not exactly cheap Velier bottling (fruity, flowery, sweet). For me, this was followed by Rhum House 2014 (similar profile, more cherry than peach), closely followed by 2008 (very similar to 2014) and finally 2022 (less fruity in comparison, more spicy, slightly more alcoholic). But they are all very close together, sometimes more and sometimes less notes of cherry and peach (iced tea), honey or honeycomb and lots of vanilla. Very good stuff."

"Amazing the difference between this and the lower gradation! There is intensity and richness of flavors here! With a profile that stands out from all other rums tasted! Very very very good indeed!"

"RumX Tasting with 4 x Courcelles 1972 (RX1196, RX13308, RX5448, RX2650): The Velier was slightly ahead in the end. Best overall package with ingenious fruity enfluences. Many thanks to Jakob for the great opportunity."

"Absolutely one of my favorite rums, that taste is smell "frizzy lazy " brings back memories of when I was a kid! Integrated alcohol , broad bouquet both on the palate and in the mouth , consistent ... absolutely in my top 3"

"One of the most amazing rums I've ever tried. Great complexity, dominated on the nose by strawberry and cream (big bubble anyone?) while in the mouth it's even fuiter and really expressive. No wood to be found here despite the massive 38y of ageing"

"Relativ trüb im Glas. Ich hoffe, dass das sample noch gut ist. Nase: ganz extrem, blumig, buttrig, Vanille, fruchtig, Parfum. Gaumen: Vanille, Butter, Pfirsich, Backgewürze, relativ süß. Ich weiß nicht so recht, wie ich ihn finden soll. Anfangs war ich noch irgendwie positiv angetan von dem außergewöhnlichen Geschmack. Aber nach und nach war er mir deutlich zu süß und von den Aromen zu künstlich und überbordend. Blind hätte ich wahrscheinlich auf einen plantation, leicht gesüßt, mit irgendeinem lustigen Finish getippt."

"Numero Tres. Even more nutty and above all toffee on the nose than number 2. On the palate, significantly less of it than with number 2. Really crazy. Alcohol well integrated again. The finish is sufficiently country."

"Hammer"

"Very good rum, very elegant on nose, caramel, cherry, tasting this massive fruity bomb was a pleasure, sweet but not too much, balanced, royal taste... honey, chocolate, cinnamon. Finish is smooth, not so long and spectacular as I expected based on it's high reputation, but so elegant and smooth. Big thanks to Distilia guys for the sample!"

"Exotische Früchte in der Nase"