Valinch & Mallet South Pacific Single Cask SPD 2004

The nose is soft, and you can hardly imagine that we're approaching 60% on the meter. Fruity (tropical fruit), spicy with a hint of vanilla. On the palate, it's just as round and smooth as the nose suggests. Tropical fruits line the palate. But that's not all: dark chocolate, peppery notes and caramel make for a very gourmet experience. The tasting is light, but with a long finish of brown sugar and Jonagold apple. If you're looking for Fiji typicity, you've missed out, as it's far from the usual standards.

Very unspectacular. Almost Spanish. Alcohol & wood. The highlight on the palate is a (very, very) slightly minty chocolate note. Not my cup of tea and not finished.

Far from typical Fiji rums: fruity, not funky at all and … much closer to a light Trinidad rum in my view. Not bad, but not what one expects from a Fiji though.

Light, fresh, fresh fruit, sea salt. The nose seems to be much more intense for this ABV… This is the time when palate are more interesting than on nose. Not bad, but not for this price IMO

A relatively sweet Fijian rum. The nose evokes a few medicinal flavors that are far from dominant. Apart from a perceptible alcoholic touch, exotic fruits, wood, chocolate, spices and sweet notes (caramel, sugar) form a fairly classic olfactory profile. The attack on the palate is more incisive. There's a certain heaviness on the palate and a syrupy texture. The profile remains dominated by woody flavors, chocolate, exotic fruits, spices, nuts and caramel. The alcohol is well integrated, though not completely unnoticed. The length on the palate is correct. The calm of the nose is restored, with similar flavors. Warmth and toastiness on the finish are not unpleasant. All in all, a very respectable Single Cask, but one that lacks the expression and depth to be at the top of its class, both for its terroir and for its bottler.

What's wrong with the 2004 vintage from South Pacific? It doesn't taste at all like Fiji, but very boring, like aged neutral alcohol. Goes in the direction of Foursquare.

A pretty good Fiji rum that surprised me with a light rubber not on both nose and palate. The nose is fruity with some wood, spice and a light rubber not, made me very excited to test on the palate. The palate is medium intense but nice with fruit, wood and spices trailed by caramel and again that light runner note. The finish is medium long to long with wood, fruits and spices.

I didn’t take any notes at the Rhum Fest so a more detailed review will follow as soon as I get the chance to sample this rum again in a better context.

Basically has nothing in common with the 2001 & 2009 vintages. It's more of a Foursquare from the Pacific. Not bad, but unfortunately also relatively interchangeable, like many Foursquares.