There is only one distillery in Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia Distillers Ltd, founded in 1972 as a joint venture between Geest Industries and the Barnard family (distilleries located in Roseau and Dennery). Successively owned by the Barnard family, then by Angostura and CL Financial, the distillery was recently bought by the Groupe Bernard Hayot (GBH), already the owner of Clément and JM rums.

The particularity of St Lucia distillers is to have a "distilling room", bringing together an impressive stock of distilling tools: a continuous double-column in steel and copper (Coffey still), producing a 95° distillate, two John Dore copper pot stills (660 and 6000 liters), and an 8000 liter Vendome still, for a distillate which will this time come out at 82° for a more complex, and heavier (heavy) rum.

The molasses used comes from Guyana and the Dominican Republic, with the crazy bet for a few years, to replant sugar cane near the distillery, with the aim of releasing a very limited series of agricultural rum (pure juice). Let's hope that the recent acquisition by GBH will allow these very interesting projects to be carried out successfully - and to completion.

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Chairman's Reserve / 40°

A blend of column rums (mostly) and pot still rums, with an average age of 5 years.

Golden/straw color , oily and very shiny.
The nose is very soft and creamy: on a caramelized fruitiness, on citrus fruits (orange, lemon), banana, vanilla, and a little leather; ginger and cinnamon for spices, in a resolutely honeyed and gourmet atmosphere, with just the right amount of richness to make you want to dip your lips in it.

The attack is very (too?) sweet, oily and quite simple, but gradually becomes warm and spicy: dry and astringent, honeyed, there is a lot of cinnamon and a light touch of white pepper.

The finish is rather short, with pepper, and always this creamy side, caramel and vanilla, which makes the experience quite simple.

An effective entry-level rum but which certainly lacks complexity and power in the mouth. All the same a good example of what a pot stil rum can give more to a blend. Note: 80

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About the "1931" rum series
It celebrates the inauguration of a distillery in February 1931 in the Mabouya Valley, near Dennery in Saint Lucia. A distillery founded by Denis Barnard which produced rum until 1972 when the company St. Lucia Distillers was formed, thanks to the merger of the Dennery distillery and that of Roseau. Each new year is the occasion to release a new carafe, a new blend of rum, which can be differentiated by the color of the collar which also mentions the anniversary (80, 81, 82, 83).

Saint Lucia 1931 1st Edition / 43°

Blend of rums from the double continuous column (Coffey still) and one of the distillery's stills, vintages 1999 and 2004, and aged 7 and 12 years. 7 American oak barrels (Jim Beam, Jack Daniels and Buffalo Trace) and 2 Port barrels were used for the maturation process.

An amber/orange rum, and a fat dress and thick legs .
The nose is very rich, on caramelized, flambéed raisins, dried apricot and dried banana, but also grilled coconut and vanilla, for a very pleasant and above all very aromatic smell, in addition to being gourmet (pastry). The rest smoothes the aromas a little more, with honey, cocoa and tobacco, in addition to cinnamon and curry. The rum is slightly astringent, harsh, with a touch of plastic? And with the impression of being halfway between a Demerara and a Jamaican.

On the palate, the attack is soft and rather oily, and even honeyed. Rather dry and astringent, it mixes fruits, jammy, vanilla, with fairly present but fine woody notes, and a nice dose of tobacco and liquorice. A mouth always very aromatic (like the nose), with also chocolate and cinnamon, and a refreshing side brought by citrus fruits (zest), almost iodized. The finish is long and persistent, on the smoky (tobacco) and jammy fruits (apricot), slightly salty.

A rum that gives pride of place to these two worlds that are column distillation and pot still distillation, with a natural and very pleasant aromatic power. Note: 83

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Saint Lucia 1931 2nd Edition / 43°

For this second edition, we have 3 different vintages (2004, 2005 and 2006), with rums aged 6, 7 and 8 years. In the batch, a rum distilled only via the double column Coffey Still, another from only stills, and finally a 50/50 blend. Once everything was mixed, everything was put back in American barrels for a period of 3 months before bottling.

R obe even more oily and fatty than the first edition, the color is also more sustained, dark amber tending towards bronze.
On the nose, it is classier, still on the fruits: peach, pineapple, apple and banana, vanilla and hazelnut and a pleasant and well-controlled woodiness. No astringency here, it is surely the biggest difference with the first edition, which can surprise and even disgust in the long run. We have a well-balanced rum overall.

On the palate, it is soft, oily and concentrated, and once again well balanced. We end up with a mixture of vanilla and caramelized fruits (banana), slightly grilled and spicy. A fine and dry woodiness arrives (slightly spicy and incisive), notes of tobacco, chocolate, and molasses. A little citrus and a slight pleasant acidic side. We have a more classic but more balanced rum and to which the addition of potstill rum surely makes a nice difference. The finish is long, on caramelized oak, dried fruits (raisins) and vanilla, and tobacco (slight bitterness).

A rum that appears better mastered than the first edition. Here the rum is more balanced and gives pride of place to a richer rum (postsill). Note: 85

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Saint Lucia 1931 3rd Edition / 43°

Blend of rums from the distillery's 3 pot stills (the 2 John Dore and the Vendome still), and their Coffey Still, aged between 6 and 12 years.

The only one in the range where the distiller has voluntarily added sugar: 12g/L according to Wes' measurements on his site The Fat Rum Pirate . Result... St Lucia's best seller.

A dark amber/orange rum, very fatty.
On the nose, we are still on a register of aromatic concentration, with a beautiful presence of apple (granny smith) which comes out of the glass, caramelized, and this little smoky, honeyed side, of cinnamon, and always vanilla. It is very soft, without hook and rather flat; we find dried fruits (raisins) plunged into a bowl of molasses, and a little refreshing side, but timid, almost minty. We are on classic, and the rum appears very creamy, but more on molasses than caramel.

On the palate, it is immediately very honeyed, quite sweet and very liquorice. Oak, tobacco, liquorice, dried fruits… everything appears really very sweet, with nevertheless a refreshing touch that feels good (mint?), but not enough to counteract all this sugar and this rapid nausea. Creamy, pastry, gourmand even sickening, it is very syrupy; fortunately an iodized note counterbalances, but there again it is very alone. The finish is average, smoky and fruity (dry), and dry (sugar?). The sweet taste remains and dries the mouth, quickly requiring a glass of water.

As much as the first two editions are very interesting and enjoyable, this one breaks the magic of St Lucia. Why release a rum that is nothing like the previous two? Why waste good rum with so much sugar? Rating: 76

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Saint Lucia 1931 4th Edition / 43°

4th and final edition celebrating this time the 83rd anniversary of Saint Lucia rums. For this new edition, the distillery has mixed agricultural rum into its blend, the first to be produced on the island since the 1930s.

Regarding the contents of this new carafe, the distillery is never stingy with information: this new blend includes 89% molasses rum (including 46% column, 11% column/still blend and 32% rum from a repasse still) and 11% pure juice rum (agricultural). Rums ranging from 7 to 15 years old. The agricultural rum is 6 years old, and comes from their John Dore still. The aging is done 94% in bourbon casks, and 6% in port casks.

Amber orange, wide legs and oily dress.
On the nose, it is fruitier than the previous 3: exotic fruits, mango, orange, cinnamon, and rather very classy. We seem to have taken another step forward compared to the first two editions (the 3rd is to be forgotten): here we have a rum with a very elegant and refined nose, complex and very well balanced. We find lemon zest, which marries wonderfully with the exotic fruits that are dried, with an elegant caramel that flatters the fruits and sublimates them, and warm spices (cinnamon).

On the palate, the rum appears sweet and honeyed, closer to the 3rd edition but with less of this sweet and disturbing aspect. It is once again quite rich, on candied fruits, a slightly burnt oak, liquorice and tobacco, with this smoky veil that floats in the mouth, and spices. The finish is long, rather dry, on fruits mixed with tobacco.

The best of the 4? Surely the one that will please the most in any case; After a home test, it turns out that this edition is also sweet (between 4 and 8gr/L). When asked about this, the distillery confirmed the addition, to a "lesser" extent than edition No. 3, and with the same idea of ​​selling more and more (faster). Rating: 86

It is very pleasant to be able to compare these 4 editions of the "1931" series, and to see the evolutions and the different tests in the blends. We will also note that the last two editions are marked by a voluntary addition of sugar, supposedly to see the reaction of the public. An addition that should not have been repeated but which will be repeated all the same on #4. We will see later the direction that the distillery really wants to take with its next releases: to offer an authentic rum without additions, or an easy-to-access and sweet product.

A few weeks ago, we learned of the acquisition of the distillery by the Bernard Hayot Group (GBH), already owner of the Clément and JM brands, with plans for expansion and modernization already announced.

To help you (and me) find your way around, regarding the notes:

90 and + : exceptional and unique rum, it is the best of the best
between 85 and 89 : highly recommended rum, with that little something that makes the difference
between 80 and 84 : recommendable rum
75-79 POINTS : above average
70-74 POINTS : in the low average
less than 70 : not very good

Review courtesy of DuRhum.com.

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