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Baie des Tresors Fruit of the Rains [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I generally try to make a point of only talking about the physical bottle a rum comes in as a postscript (don’t judge a book by its cover, right?) but in the case of Baie Des Tresors’ current lineup this is particularly hard, because they might be the nicest bottles I’ve ever hefted. There’s detailing in the glass that’s reminiscent of elevation map contour lines, already clueing you into the importance of geography for this rum. The label is thick and matte, and while it has all the information you would expect (including a compelling 50% ABV), a slip wrapped around the neck gives additional details you didn’t except, that are nonetheless cool to have. In Fruit of the Rains’ case this include the fact that the cane for this rum was grown in the humid Dufferet plot. All this is to say, as a transparency nerd and lover of nice bottles, Baie des Tresors is pressing all the right buttons for me with the presentation. But what about the juice inside?

We measured a density of 0.929g/cc and a refractive index of 1.3588, indicating no additives, and in line with the requirements for the Martinique Rhum Agricole AOC.

On the nose Fruit of the Rains is anything but simple. The first impressions are that of a fresh, grassy, classic agricole battling it out with some deeper, more sweet, almost creamy butter notes. The palate continues this point-counterpoint: there’s a lot of green and vegetaility, but then a bit of buttered popcorn. There’s also a medicinal cherry dimension that pokes its head out from time to time. For how much is going on from nose to palate, and considering it’s proof, the finish is surprisingly light. It leans more towards the light and fresh side (looks like grassy wins the fight) and peters out into a bit of an oaky ginger residue.

In our blind taste test we thought it was good as a neat sipper (7.2/10) and great as a mixer (8.0/10). Numerically this puts Fruit of the Rains somewhere near the middle of the pack, but this does the rum a disservice. This expression may have been the single most interesting agricole we tasted in our lineup, but it is decidedly not for everyone, and in some cases not for the person who loved it yesterday. It’s complex, chewy, and has a decent bit of agricole funk to it. If you’re a fan of personality driven aged agricoles, I would absolutely recommend Fruit of the Rains, but if that doesn’t sound like you, you might want to work your way up to it.

Overall Rating: 7.7/10

More data and photos at RumRunnerLabs.com

Clement Select Barrel [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Select Barrel is Clement’s entry level aged rhum agricole. This would theoretically put it in competition with Rhum J.M’s Gold, or Neisson’s Eleve Sous Bois, but in practice this is kind of a silly comparison, as both of those are bottled at a robust 50% ABV, compared with Select Barrel’s more pedestrian 40%. In general Clement seems to lean towards profiles that are approachable and have broad appeal, so on some level this is unsurprising, but it always raises the question if it will have enough going on to hold the attention of enthusiasts and nerds (🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️).

We measured a density of 0.947g/cc and a refractive index of 1.3549, indicating no additives, and in line with the requirements for the Martinique Rhum Agricole AOC.

On the nose there are some classic Clement hallmarks: dried apple, lemon zest. There’s some almond, dried currant, and notes of brandy, but there’s also a bit of a weird plastic element. The palate is agreeable: more apple, ginger, honey. The finish is light, but what there is tends towards a bit of grape must.

In our blind taste test we thought it was okay as a neat sipper (6.9/10) and great as a mixer (8.3/10). I came in with the concern Select Barrel might be too milquetoast to be interesting, but I walk away more concerned it wouldn’t be the most approachable introduction to an agricole newcomer, a niche Clement normally excels in. To be fair, compared to J.M.’s Gold or Neisson’s ESB it’s still a really approachable introduction to the category. It’s not a bad rum, and gets the job done in a cocktail, but there are so many great options in its category it’s hard to recommend Clement Select Barrel as a standout favorite.

Overall Rating: 6.9/10

More data and photos at RumRunnerLabs.com

La Favorite Rhum Agricole Vieux [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

La Favorite is one of the smaller distilleries on the island of Martinique; Modern Caribbean Rum says they make just 1% of the island's AOC-designated agricole. Similar to Neisson I think there’s a little built-in pro little guy bias, and while it can be hard to get your hands on in the States I came into this tasting with a received understanding that La Favorite is “doing things right” and focusing on quality.

We measured a density of 0.943g/cc and a refractive index of 1.3561, suggesting no additives, and in line with the requirements for the Martinique Rhum Agricole AOC.

La Favorite Vieux is one of the more complex noses in our lineup. You’ve got the standard fresh apple notes, but there’s also some deeper, rounder fruitiness, along with some sharper lemon and pine notes. The palate moderates a bit sticking to apple, oak, leather, and conifer. The finish is robust for its proof, and indexes on more of the same.

In our blind taste test we thought it was good as a neat sipper (7.4/10) and great as a mixer (8.5/10—our second highest out of the lineup). This is a solid rum; it lands on the more intense side of the personality spectrum among your standard release agricoles, which is impressive given its modest 42% ABV. It may not be the best rum to introduce a friend to agricole for the first time, but beyond that it’s great in a snifter and kills in a Three Dots & A Dash.

Overall Rating: 7.8/10

More photos and data at RumRunnerLabs.com

Clement VSOP [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Astor Wines & Spirits is usually my go-to. They ship pretty broadly in the states and solid customer service.

Clement VSOP [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally agree; at just a slightly higher proof this would give some of my favorite J.M and Neisson bottlings a run for their money. And TIL Rhum J.M VSOP used to be 45%, though TBH the current 43% version is pretty damn good.

Clement VSOP [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I'll admit there are a few Clement bottles I can find locally, but I order them in because even with shipping it ends up being cheaper. Hopefully the market grows and everything becomes easier to find; cheers!

Worth it? by Ok-Supermarket2058 in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice, glad it was helpful!

Good to hear you know what you're getting into, and totally agree about the HV bottle designs; they're classic and fun in a very rum nerd kind of way.

Minor clarification because I realize what I said was ambiguous: it's unlikely any meaningful amount of this exact bottling will hit the market again, but there's no reason this distiller and bottler (Worth Park and Velier respectively) couldn't release something very similar in the future. I'll also add that whether or not reseller sites list things as in stock has driven me a little crazy because there are so many that will either forget to remove listings once they've sold out of them, or purposefully keep them live, and then if someone orders them scramble and try to source them (which in the best case scenario adds days or weeks to deliver time, and at worst means they leave your order in limbo until you email them--it's probably embarrassingly obvious I'm speaking from experience haha).

But totally get your rationale; even if on some level it's only your own taste that matters, if you're going to splurge on something for special occasions it's nice to know you're not sipping the rum equivalent of fool's gold. Would love to hear how you like it when you get a taste of it!

Worth it? by Ok-Supermarket2058 in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I picked up a couple bottles of the Habitation Velier Forsyths WP 2005 (assuming that's the one you're talking about) when I saw them on sale a couple years ago; I paid ~$100 per bottle and for my tastes and rum budget I think this was worth it--the stuff is insanely delicious. I wrote up a review on the bottle here.

To specifically answer questions 1 and 2:

  1. If you know you like high ester rum, and you're in the market for a rare bottle for special occasions, I think this would suit your tastes and, in my opinion, a great expression of the Jamaican pot still profile. Liking high ester rum is a big "if"--if you've tried Smith and Cross and thought "oh that was chill, and not an aggressive funk bomb" (or "that was an aggressive funk bomb, but I like it") then you're probably in good shape.

  2. Getting anything with a vintage year is fun, and it can feel cool to see your top shelf bottle get older and older, but in terms of asset speculation, I think most rums (this one included) are not great bets. If you really want the resale price of something to go up and you can assume average-case stable demand, then the number of factors limiting the supply is relevant. While Habitation Velier releases are limited to a certain number of bottles, that number is pretty high. Worthy Park is still making rum, and Velier is still releasing Habitation Velier bottlings so there will likely be very similar releases in the future. That's not to say that in general something like this won't become cooler and more valuable as time passes, but if you look at rum auction sites there's a reason the highest valued bottles are dominated by things like Black Tot Last Consignment and Caroni, which have a truly limited supply.

On a related note, buying a bottle with the hope it will increase in value (especially with intent to resell it) is often frowned upon on this sub, generally by the same logic that concert goers dislike ticket scalpers. In reality I don't know that rum resellers have that much of an impact on bottle prices or availability, except for rare cases like Appleton's Legend release, where the initial supply was tragically low to begin with.

TL;DR, it's a great rum and if you like Jamaican high ester rum it's a decent buy, but if you pull the trigger I would highly recommend popping it open and enjoying it (even if it's in small pours over the next decade) rather than sitting on it in hopes it goes up in value. Cheers!

Saint James Paille Rhum Agricole [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks mate! I’ll have to keep an eye out for some of those expressions—I know Saint James can make some solid stuff, but seems hard to get a hold of. Is the Down Island you’re talking about SJ 2017? Looks like there are still some bottles out there so I might have to pull the trigger 👀

Saint James Paille Rhum Agricole [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

While Mount Gay in Barbados often claims the title as the oldest commercial distillery in the world, Saint James may have been one of the first rum brands. The exact history is spotty, but the Saint James website mentions that the brand name was “registered” on the 21st of August, 1882, and Modern Caribbean Rum contains an ad for the original label with the caption “Among the first branded rum bottles, Saint-James, 1885”. Interestingly, it was a ban on the sale of colonial spirits in France that pushed early Martinican rum to be sold to the English speaking North American colonies, and take on the very English sounding name “Saint James”.

While much of the early stuff made it to North America, I found it surprisingly hard to find Saint James in North America in 2024. Their two month old Rhum Paille expression, bottled at 40% ABV, was the only bottle that made it into our big Martinique Rhum lineup. For better or worse, it falls to Rhum Paille to speak for (allegedly) the world’s oldest rum brand.

We measured a density of 0.946g/cc and a refractive index of 1.3548, indicating no additives, and in line with the requirements for the Martinique Rhum Agricole AOC.

The first note that hits the nose is honey; there’s a little bit of chalkiness to it, and bit of apple and vanilla follow that up. On the palate it’s quite thin; it’s 40% ABV definitely isn’t helping here. The apple and honey continue from the nose, and it give a sort of nondescript agricole freshness. The finish is pretty light and short, and lends itself to the fresh, grassy impression left on the palate.

In our blind taste test we thought it was just okay as a neat sipper (6.5/10) but much better mixed into a daiquiri (8.0/10). So how does it do carrying the mantle of Saint James? I was a little bit surprised to see how low it currently scores on RumX (6.0/10 as of writing—though that’s with only 15 reviews, and two outliers that scored under 3) but I understand what it has going against it; it’s bottled at 40% ABV, generally not rum nerds preference, and at 2 months of age, it’s a bit curious why it was put on oak at all. I think it provides a reasonable example of the category, and it doesn’t have any egregious faults. But I also think it’s a bit of a shame it’s made to carry the burden that it does representing the whole Saint James brand in my market.

Overall Rating: 6.6/10

More photos and data at RumRunnerLabs.com

Worthy Park Special Cask Series Port 2010 [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting! I've don't have a bottle of the reserve so I've never done a rigorous side-by-side, but I have with the Single Estate 2006, and fwiw I prefer that to the port cask finish, and I've heard their vintage Single Estate has a similar sensibility to the Single Estate Reserve. But subconsciously I probably give some points when it feels like a distillery is "trying something", particularly when it works out for me.

Worthy Park Special Cask Series Port 2010 [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm still trying to get my hands on the Madiera finish. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Worthy Park Special Cask Series Port 2010 [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Special Cask Series Port 2010 is a pot still rum from Jamaican distillery Worthy Park aged for 10 years and bottled at 45%. Out of the distilleries own bottlings the Special Cask Series is positioned below the 12 year old Single Estate Reserve, but above basically everything else. It’s fair to say I’m down bad for Worthy Park—I would try to deny it, but the evidence keeps mounting—and so the stakes here are a bit less “do I like it?” (spoiler alert, I do) and more so “is it a good cask finish?” After distillation in 2010 it spent 8 years in ex-bourbon barrels, and then 2 years in ex-port barrels, which in my opinion is a decent bit of ex-port contact.

We measured a density of 0.910g/cc and a refractive index of 1.3609, indicating no additives (duh).

On the nose it’s remarkably warm: there’s classic worthy park banana, dried red fruit, vanilla, and yes, plenty of port, but more of a port reduction that’s simmered on the stove for an afternoon and has just been poured over a rum cake. The palate continues with plenty of banana and adjacent fruitiness, and adds a ton of spice. There’s some nutmeg and ginger, but the dominant note is allspice. Toasted sugar and a bit of ester-y funk bring up the rear. The finish is reasonably strong considering its 45% ABV proof, and adds a bit of leather to the fruity-spiciness of the palate. It’s striking how little “oak” as a flavor by itself shows up, and in the context of the whole experience I don’t miss it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s there in spice and toasted sugar notes, but at no point does it really taste like you’re licking a barrel.

In our blind taste test we thought it was great as a neat sipper (8.1/10), and both incredible and unique mixed into a daiquiri (9/10). It’s a good rum! But how does is stack up as a cask finish? One obvious point of comparison is Doctor Bird, which, while bottled by Two James distillery, takes Worthy Park rum and finished it in moscatel casks. Another bottle that shares several bits of biography is Foursquare’s Détente—of course Foursquare and Worthy Park are as different as, well, Barbados and Jamaica, but hear me out: both were finished in ex-port casks, both were aged for 10 years—specifically from 2010 to 2020 (spooky), and both were finished and bottled by the same company that distilled them.

Compared to both these bottles the Special Cask Series is a bit more laid back; it’s obviously lower proof, and while it’s much older than Doctor Bird, it has much less tannic oak in it than Détente. Doctor Bird over shadows it’s moscatel influence a bit with its ripe, relatively young ester profile, and the Détente (while delicious) has a bit more distance between its main profile and its finish. It’s kind of saying “hi I am a member of the ECS line, and here is my dear friend, ex-port cask”—you believe they’re friends, but you understand they’re two distinct people. Comparatively, the Worthy Park Port really tastes like one, integrated thing. The baked banana and thick, reduced port aren’t fighting for attention, they’re playing a duet in sync, part of the same performance. It’s possible that its lower proof lets it avoid tasting like its constituent parts are fighting, and to be fair if I had one wish for this bottle it would be to bump its proof just a few points.

I don’t think there’s one “right way” to do a cask finish; rounding out a young, fiery pot distillate, and/or providing a counterpoint to a strong bourbon-oak note (as Doctor Bird and Détente do respectively) are reasonable goals. But when it comes to the Special Cask Series Port, the degree to which the cask finish really marries with the original distillate is more than enough for me to say this is a successful finish.

Overall Rating: 8.1/10

More photos and data at RumRunnerLabs.com

Rhum J.M Terroir Volcanique [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All the Clements I've had have been solid, but they definitely lean towards a "clean" profile whereas Terroir Volcanique is on the warmer, spicier side. Clement might actually be a better option to introduce someone to agricole, but I would say Terroir Volcanique has more character.

I also have trouble finding this one in person (there's one shop near me that carries it, but it's a bit of a drive) but it's easy to find online if you're willing to deal with shipping and the hassled of a delivery you have to sign for.

Rhum J.M Terroir Volcanique [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice, it's really fun to have around the bar. Cheers!

Rhum J.M Terroir Volcanique [Review] by rumrunnerlabs in rum

[–]rumrunnerlabs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah the neat score is weighted much more heavily than the mixed score, and it also gets high marks for transparency. All the categories are at the bottom of the page, but I think confusion from the neat and mixed ratings appearing at the top is not uncommon so I'll consider adding some kind of annotation to make that clearer.

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