Here is a bottle, or rather a selection from Mr. Luigi Veronelli, famous Italian oenologist/food critic/anarchist and writer who died in 2004. For the record, it was Luigi who allegedly found this rum directly in the Barbancourt warehouses, before bringing it back to Italy to be put on sale in the early 80s. A time when the Whiskey War was raging and rum had not yet acquired its letters of nobility. A historic and legendary bottle, and surely the first 'premium' rum imported by an Italian, to be placed alongside the no less legendary Samaroli West Indies 1948 and the older St James, no less...

Price : around €600 2 years ago. Limited edition of 1,196 bottles of 70cl and 43°.

Age : we know from the label that this is a rum "over 25 years old". But was the rum aged entirely in the Barbancourt warehouses, or in Italy? The first clue seems the most serious since the bottle used comes from the distillery (which must have bottled the rum before shipping it to Italy).

Very little information about this rare and enigmatic bottle, and which will cause much more ink to flow than rum to tell the truth. And in any case it has - and will never have - been distributed in France but only in Italy and in confidential quantities (thanks Internet). The opportunity in any case to return to the oldest rum released by Barbancourt, and which in those years (50's) still made a rum that rhymed more with quality than quantity, with history rather than marketing.

The color of this Barbancourt is coppery, bronze and quite strong. Tears in abundance, a torrent of sadness as if the opening of the bottle had triggered a drama. The bloody vessels are thick and immediate, and fall back rather quickly into a troubled ocean. This rum has nevertheless undergone 25 years of aging (and even more if we are to believe the label), and seems to quickly forget its 25 years of prison, where rums of the same pedigree usually take the time to cry, surely by rehashing a distant past in a slow overwhelming dance.

The nose is deep and warm, with candied fruit (apricot, banana), orange marmalade, grilled and caramelized dried fruits (black grapes, dates, figs), vanilla, as if the rum had lost none of its splendor over all these long years. We also find nuts, for a rather exquisite and even gourmet smell (marzipan). A voluptuous nose, with a slight astringency (tannins/a little harsh wood) and even a little more oriented towards dried fruits when aerated.

The attack is soft and slightly oily, still on this fruitiness (marmalade, grapes) mixed with classy tannins and zan. The mouth becomes drier and the woodiness becomes even more liquorice and just caramelized, a little tobacco too, and coffee. The whole in the mouth reveals a certain bitterness (tea) which dries the mouth.

The finish is medium long and on the same woody notes, rather astringent, with always this spicy caramel, and zan in a slightly larger quantity. It was customary to add caramel before aging to give a sort of character to the rum, or in any case personality (and not as today to hide systematic and 'non-selling' defects). The empty glass is fruity, spicy, while the last drop seems to offer a concentration of tannin, the result of long years spent in the barrel, as well as a slight smokiness.

A rum light years away from what is being made today at Barbancourt, all in finesse; And a subtle mouth alcohol that will not fail to have its little effect on whoever will have the chance to taste it. We may be surprised not to find a richer and more complex rum for a 25 year old, but let's remember that the Haitian brand used to dilute its rum to 50% before aging, which may explain this very fine result. Note: 85

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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