The vintage rums of Excellence Rhum, Part I

21 June 2023 | Buyer's Guide
The vintage rums of Excellence Rhum, Part I

The rum market evolves at a dizzying speed, fashions impose themselves and then disappear, heavy trends assert themselves, tastes change. In all this clash of flavors and desires, Excellence Rhum invites you to come back to old rums, out of fashion, of trends, but well anchored in their era.

Eredya, Rhum Grand Arôme, 1970s, from Maison Clacquesin

Ereyda is a rum bottled by Maison Clacquesin whose origins date back to the 18th century. Around 1860, Paul Clacquesin, a pharmacist by trade, took over his father-in-law's liqueur factory and invented an aperitif drink made from plants and spices, which he called: Le Clacquesin. Thanks to the advertising talents of his wife, Paul Clacquesin boosted sales.

At the same time, the now Maison Claquesin began bottling rum in the mid-1880s by importing rums from Saint Lucia and Jamaica. It also offers for sale a rum punch.

Success is on the way. Expansion is needed. The company moved from the rue du Dragon in Paris to Malakoff on a plot of 4000m2 at the beginning of the 20th century. It was in these premises on the avenue du Maréchal Leclerc, in the early 1960s, that it was decided to select Eredya rum. The bottle that we offer dates from the 1970s. It is a rum, most likely from Martinique like many grand arôme rums bottled at that time, at 40%.

Vana, Rum from the French West Indies, 1970s-1980s, Pernod-Ricard

Vana rum probably dates from the beginning of the 20th century. The first advertisements show a woman crushing the flu virus with a massive bottle of Vana Rum.

This rum from Martinique is imported to Le Havre and stored in Thiais, by Entrepôts L.H. Mesmin, which defines itself as "Importers of rum, depositaries of original products, of direct provenance".

Along with Rhum Vana, Entrepôts L.H Mesmin also imports "Rhum Ste Flora", a Grand Arôme rum from Martinique.

The "Rhum Vana" that we offer comes from the French West Indies. The bottle certainly dates from the 1970s-1980s. It then belongs to the Pernod-Ricard company.

Saint-Gilles, Rum from the West Indies, 1970s-1980s, Metropolitan Rum Company, St Raphaël Company

The Saint-Gilles brand was registered in 1931 by the “Société Anonyme des rhums purs Martinique – Guadeloupe”. In the 1940s, it passed into the hands of the “Compagnie Métropolitaine des rhums”, and was distributed in France by the “Société Saint Raphaël”.

The St Raphaël company, famous for its "Le Quinquina" aperitif, presents Saint Gilles rum to us as an amber rum, fine, warm and deliciously fragrant.

With warehouses in Paris, Le Havre, Bordeaux and Marseille, the popular Rhum Saint-Gilles competed at the time with the powerful Rhum Négrita from Maison Bardinet, being distributed throughout France!

Jacsi, Rum from Martinique, 1960s, Compagnie Dubonnet Cinzano (CDC)

The "Jacsi rum" reached its apogee in the 1950s. The one that claims to be the "true blond rum of guaranteed origin", in reference to its straw color, is in the selection of Maison J & S VIOLET brothers. This company, founded in 1866 in the town of Thuir, was then famous for its “Byrrh” aperitif based on cinchona. The advertisement presents Jacsi rum as "The Sun of bad days", and highlights its finesse and aroma.

In 1960, the Compagnie Dubonnet Cinzano (CDC) created in 1954, absorbed the Byrrh brand, and therefore the Jacsi Rum. The rum that we offer comes in a one-liter bottle, titled at 44% abv, and is selected by the CDC.

Jacksie, Rum from Martinique, 1970s, Compagnie Dubonnet Cinzano (CDC)

In the 1970s, through a series of successive takeovers, Pernod-Ricard found itself with a majority stake in the capital of Compagnie Dubonnet Cinzano (CDC), owner of “rum Jacsi”. The name of this rum is subsequently feminized to become "Jacksie". Excellence Rhum offers you a bottle of "Jacksie" rum which was sold according to our estimates between 1970 and 1977, when Maison Cusenier, also owned by Pernod Ricard, took over the distribution of Jacksie rum, to the detriment of the CDC.

Braza, Grand Arôme Rum, 1970s, Maison Berger

You can observe on the label of this bottle an emblem in the form of a coat of arms, representing a white cross on a red background. This refers to Switzerland, where Maison Berger, bottler of this Grand Arôme rum (most likely from Martinique) is from.

Charles-Frédéric Berger founded his distillery in Couvet in Switzerland in 1830. Mainly an absinthe distiller, his House expanded and he inaugurated a new distillery in Marseilles in 1878. Success was there to the point that another Berger branch opened on the other side of the Atlantic, in Buenos Aires! In 1910, absinthe was banned. Maison Berger separates from its Swiss distillery. Claude Berger, son of the founder, focuses on alcohols and aperitifs and creates the "Pastis Berger".

In 1972, Maison Berger, still enjoying as much success, moved to the Château de Lieusaint near Paris. It then has warehouses and offices in Paris, Lille, Marseille, Bordeaux, Rennes and Lyon, but also in cities in Europe and North Africa. It was at this time that Maison Berger brought in this Braza rum, Grand Arôme, which has a 40-degree content. Maison Berger was bought by "Marie Brizard" in 1995.

In order to continue reading, we suggest you discover another rarity:

The Rum Courcelles 1972

Written with passion by

Matthieu Lange
Matthieu Lange
Conseiller en spiritueux