
July 26, 2026

A word of caution
Let me please remind you that my humble assessments of any spirits are done from the point of view of a malt whisky enthusiast who, what's more, is aboslutely not an expert in rum, brandy, tequila, vodka, gin or any other spirits. Thank you – and peace!

The Rum Sessions,
Extreme rums all round

At any rate, most of them are. This time we'll kick off with a slightly older bottle… Then we'll move on quickly and rather at random…

Duquesne 5 ans ‘Rhum Vieux’ (40%, OB, Martinique, +/-1985)

Duquesne is Trois Rivières, but I don't believe I've seen the brand in recent years, is it still active? Colour: pale gold. Nose: this is very light, with hazelnuts and cardboard, croissants and herbal cough mixture. A few hints of aniseed and pastis. It's really not at all bad at this stage. Mouth: OBE has probably taken a bit of a toll on this profile, which wanders between aniseed, liquorice and a few soapy notes. In short, one half is rather charming, the other rather less so. In other words, it's an old rum with a decidedly ambivalent character. Finish: fairly short, still a little dusty and soapy. Comments: no doubt a lovely rum in its day, but it has probably seen better days. Best forgotten.
SGP:341 - 65 points.

Père Labat ‘Sélection’ (59%, Les Frères de la Côte, Marie-Galante, 760 bottles)

A rum matured for four years on Marie-Galante, then three months aboard a sailing vessel, and finally two months in mainland France. I'm not entirely convinced those last two months made much difference. We've already tasted several rums by Les Frères de la Côte, and they had all been very good. Colour: gold. Nose: very earthy and lemony, phenolic, then increasingly focused on salted liquorice. Fennel, aniseed, dill, wood glue... It's rather impressive. With water: tonnes of earth and litres of varnish. It's absolutely beautiful. Mouth (neat): powerful and precise, with fennel, lemon, liquorice and aniseed. With water: simply more of the same. Magnificent spirit, ultra-precise, fresh and powerful. Finish: very long, fresh, lemony and earthy, with a slight salty edge. Comments: there are several different batches, and they're not easy to tell apart, but this one is excellent.
SGP:552 - 87 points.

Full Circle ‘8 Nation Blend’ (61%, Raising Glasses, full proof, 2025)

A rum that's probably rather new wave, from a house that's probably rather new wave too. We rather like the spirit of it, provided those eight nations don't end up cancelling each other out. Colour: gold. Nose: engine grease, vanilla, banana wine, acetone, varnishes, petrol… In short, this is more Funkadelic than Gilbert O'Sullivan at this stage. With water: a little smoke and ash, plus whispers of ammonia. Mouth (neat): clever stuff. The esters are singing loudly in the front row, while vanilla and syrup wrap everything up rather neatly. With water: vegetables and spices, liquorice, caraway… Finish: much the same, with an increasingly rooty side that lingers for quite a while. Comments: esters are rather like peat, if you enjoy them you tend to want plenty of them, and half measures can become a little awkward. But this is very good indeed.
SGP:552 - 82 points.

Salvador 20 yo 2006/2026 ‘L.C.’ (59%, Ferrer, One Cask, El Salvador)

L.C. must stand for La Cabana, the makers of Cihuatan, whom we rather like. Colour: gold. Nose: this is absolutely not one of those ex-high-column molasses rums devoid of soul and flavour, quite the opposite, with rather massive notes of nail polish remover and hairspray, rice vinegar, even baijiu. How interesting, and even rather amusing! With water: more varnish, more hairspray, more paint thinner. Mouth (neat): wow, this is good! Pineapple, concentrated lemon juice and varnish. With water: everything becomes a little more balanced, thanks to notes of... seawater and oysters! And salmiak. Finish: long, precise, saline and, if I may dare say so, bacterial... Comments: to keep it short, this comes as a complete surprise.
SGP:563 - 88 points.

Planteray Trinidad 25 yo 2000/2025 (56.4%, Planteray for LMDW Itinéraires, cask # Rime E4-04, 258 bottles)

As is almost always the case with Planteray/Plantation, there's a cognac finish, the precise purpose of which still rather escapes us, although I'm sure that's entirely our fault. Colour: gold. Nose: rather high-ester in style, with olives, brine, slightly overripe fruits, tar, petrol and liquorice. The trouble is, it's utterly gorgeous. With water: dried flowers and dried fruits emerge, alongside a generous helping of mint and liquorice. Mouth (neat): oh yes, peaches and mangoes, then those lovely little diesel oil notes, textbook TDL through and through. With water: magnificent, we're completely won over, cognac or no cognac. Very ripe pineapples, perhaps a shade too ripe, then varnish, brine, petroleum and liquorice. Finish: long, very long indeed, and showing no real intention of stopping. Comments: superb spirit. So then, Petite Champagne? Borderies? Only joking...
SGP:662 - 90 points.

Bonne-Mère 3 yo ‘Butterfly’ (53.5%, Vagabond Spirit, Harmony, Guadeloupe, 433 bottles)

A finishing period in a red vin doux naturel cask, but why ever not, this ought to behave itself. Bonne-Mère belongs to La Martiniquaise (Saint James) and has only recently launched its own brand, DBM (Distillerie Bonne Mère, got it) We simply had to taste it… Colour: full gold. Nose: proper French Caribbean exuberance! Ferments, fresh yeasts, bananas that have gone gloriously overripe, late-harvest Gewurztraminer, roses, lychees, damsons on the verge of collapse (no problem whatsoever), lilac, broom… With water: oh, this is beautiful! Mouth (neat): I just love this. Nervy, razor-sharp, hugely aromatic, fresh, almost smoky, now drifting more towards late-harvest Pinot Gris than Gewurztraminer… With water: yep, Pinot Gris indeed, together with Roussanne and Marsanne. Finish: long, extravagantly floral (rose), yet wonderfully elegant thanks to those delightfully petroly notes. And olives! Comments: in truth, this is really wandering into the realm of great baijiu, a considerably more meaningful gift to humanity than those poor BYD cars or conversational sex robots. In short, complete madness at just three years of age.
SGP:652 - 88 points.

Under the circumstances, why would we leave the French West Indies?

Galion 2025/2026 ‘Grand Arôme’ (63%, Landier & Vingtier, Les Fontaines du Chai 27, Martinique, cask #15)

They certainly know what they're doing at L&V, and if France ever had a Ministry of Rum (heaven forbid!) they'd undoubtedly be handed the portfolio. Come to think of it, there's an idea… But do remember, Le Galion isn't agricole… Colour: gold. Nose: formic acid, lemon juice, diesel fuel, olive brine, anchovy brine, acetone and ammonia. Does that do the trick as grand arôme? With water: seawater trapped among the rocks between high and low tide. You'd swear there were even tiny green crabs in there, and barnacles without the slightest doubt. Mouth (neat): on the palate, this is the equivalent of a C<>H from H., in J. The rest is simply magnificent, razor-sharp, fiercely saline and gloriously petroly. With water: seawater flavoured with rum and liquorice liqueur. Finish: very long, rather more austere, salty, almost a little too demanding. Comments: This is the real thing, complete madness. And apparently, it's around a year old, give or take. Then again, we all know that age in rum is an almost esoteric concept.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

Speaking of Jamaica…

Long Pond 20 yo (69.4%, Gourmet Pool, bourbon barrel, Jamaica, 2025)

It mentions Long Pond and it mentions Clarendon, so I'm not entirely sure what this really is, but as always, the truth is in the glass. Function over design, always, that's what thirty years of working with this wretched Internet, the very thing that's leading us all to our doom, has taught me. But never mind… Colour: full amber. Nose: exhaust fumes from an old Jaguar, ethanol, acetone. The rest will simply have to wait for water… With water: the water certainly dilutes it, that's beyond doubt, but it also weakens it a little. Mouth (neat): not quite as dangerous as the strength would suggest. Shoe polish, eau de toilette, nail varnish. Truth be told, it isn't really drinkable in its natural state. With water: glues, varnishes, solvents, and the distinct impression of chewing your way through brand-new Ikea furniture. Finish: long and bitter. Comments: perhaps the limits of the concept, at least to my humble mind. Extremes are all very well, but there's little point once they start becoming genuinely unpleasant.
SGP:263 – 79 points.

While we're on the subject of very high strengths…

TDL 8 yo 2016/2015 (65.7%, The Colours of Rum, Trinidad, ex-bourbon, cask #3, 277 bottles)

You wouldn't happen to know a decent international lawyer, would you? Every time we're confronted with strengths like this, ours is out on the golf course and impossible to reach. Colour: gold. Nose: high-ester TDL, yet outrageously fruity. Petrol and mango juice. A combination that's almost impossible to resist. With water: freshly pressed grass juice, just as it was all the rage back in the 1980s. You remember, the first time everyone suddenly became fascinated by vegetable, root and grass juices. Mouth (neat): varnish, venom, peach and apricot eau-de-vie (apricotine), and brand-new melamine board. With water: really very good, although it loses a little definition. Finish: long, just a touch imprecise. Earth, outrageously ripe fruits, petrol, freshly cut lawn. Comments: TDL is at its glorious best when it's razor-sharp, either unapologetically fruity or completely ester-driven. Somewhere in between, things always become just a little more difficult, in my opinion…
SGP:462 - 84 points.

Well, today's real discovery was undoubtedly Le Galion by Landier & Vingtier. I think we could do with one more to bring this miserable little session to a close…

Galion 2021/2026 ‘Grand Arôme Wall Cask’ (55%, Landier & Vingtier, Les Fontaines du Chai 27, Martinique)

We suppose that 'wall cask' refers to casks matured close to the walls in warehouses or cellars, where they're naturally exposed to fewer swings in temperature and humidity thanks to thermal inertia, but that's pure speculation on our part. If only we had the time to dig into these matters! Colour: full gold. Nose: complete madness. Hugely acetic, loaded with varnish and solvents, then an almost excessive vanilla, rose petals, hairspray, concentrated sour cherry juice… With water: smoked oysters, chilli, wood glue… Mouth (neat): extreme, right at the limit. Ultra-concentrated liquorice, Mediterranean seawater, black olives, smoked fish… With water: much the same, plus rubber and wonderfully salty liquorice straight from the far North. Finish: long, a little softer now, a little fruitier too, but do be careful, this is deceptive stuff. One glass is quite enough. Comments: this is almost more of a condiment than a drink. We almost preferred the 2025, which was almost gentler. Almost… In any case, they're completely mad at Landier & Vingtier. BTW we’ll also try to unearth some new cognac by Landier.
SGP:364 - 90 points.

Check the index of all rums we've tasted

The Rum Sessions, Extreme rums all round

The Rum Sessions,
Extreme rums all round