The vintage rums of Excellence Rhum, Part II

2 July 2023 | Buyer's Guide
The vintage rums of Excellence Rhum, Part II
Here is the second part of our presentation of the vintage rums available at Excellence Rhum. In all the incredible flavors of today's rums, we invite you to come back to old rums, out of fashions, of trends, but well anchored in their era.
Naura, rum from the French West Indies, 1970s and 1980s, Pernod then Pernod-Ricard

The Naura rum created in 1892, presents itself from the outset as being of high quality: “Plantation Naura, Martinique, Guadeloupe. Extra-Old, Guaranteed Pure! It was then imported by F. Moureaux et Cie, based in Alfort (now Alfortville). The company became a Société Anonyme in 1922 and moved to Saint-Maurice, rue de Saint-Mandé. The company develops with the reinforcement of advertisements. We find them in every era. The trucks of the "Société Anonyme du Rhum Naura" drive on the roads of France to drop off bottles at retailers. The company highlights its "powerful commercial organization" to ensure low prices for the consumer.

In the 1970s, Société Pernod, which would become Pernod-Ricard in 1975, and which also owned Vana rums, bought Naura rum. Excellence Rhum offers you the possibility of acquiring bottles of this rum from a blend of rums from Martinique and Guadeloupe, ranging from the 1970s to the 1980s! Real pieces of history!

Rum Caravella, 1970s, Casanis Company

Caravella rum was born in the Seine department in 1931, at the instigation of Henri Pic. “Sun in a glass” he proclaims in these advertisements. He also bottles a "white grape", a "colored rum", an "authentic old rum" and "shrub". Modern in its advertising approach, it declines the possible uses of its rum: “In a large glass, a good shot of Old Rum Caravella”, Perrier water and ice to refresh. Wait for the drink to be cold”, or to flavor omelettes, crêpes flambées, babas, creams, cakes, and he also offers a recipe “in case of flu, bronchitis or congestion”.

At the same time, the Casanis Company, specializing in wines and spirits, was founded in Bastia in 1925. In 1942, the Company's warehouses were bombed and the Maison Casanis moved to Marseille. The Pastis Casanis, which still exists, is the House's flagship product. It is experiencing national development by being present in the warehouses of Bercy, where the Maison d'Henri Pic is also present. It is possibly thanks to this proximity that Caravella rum passed through the hands of Casanis, who thus expanded his portfolio of spirits.

This Caravella rum, from this great house of Corsican origin, was probably bottled in the late 1970s or at the latest in the early 1980s. It comes in a one-liter bottle at 40%.

Santa Marta, Rum Grand Arôme, 1960s, Teisseire

Here is another remarkable piece that we present to you. Remarkable for its origin but also for the company that created this rum: Maison Teisseire. Yes, it is indeed the House which today produces syrups for children.

Rum Santa Marta was born in 1911 in Grenoble, under the impulse of the company Robert Père et Fils. This company is the result of successive takeovers of a distillery founded in 1720 by Mathieu Tesseire. It successively bore the names of Teisseire, Payraud and Ferrouillat, Robert Père et Fils, then Reynaud, to later become “les Etablissements Teisseire” again.

This Santa Marta rum, Grand Arôme, most likely distilled in Martinique, has a strength of 40%. It comes in a liter bottle and gives notes of fruity coffee.

It is interesting to note that the very first Santa Marta rum label, published in 1911, is almost identical to the one we find on this bottle from the 1960s.

Rum from the Two Valleys, 1940s-1950s, Bonal

Hippolyte Bonal, former Carthusian brother who had taken the name of Brother Raphaël, founded at the end of the 1850s, a medical practice in Saint Laurent du Pont in Isère. He makes preparations and then a liqueur called "La Raphaëlle, queen of Dauphiné liqueurs". It is a plant-based alcoholic drink like yellow gentian. The advertisement presents "The liqueur invented in 1865 by former Brother Raphaël of the Convent of St-Bruno".

In 1889, a large distillery was built. It produces different aperitifs such as Génépi, Arquebuse, Elixir, Gentiane Bonal...etc. A garden made up of different plants useful for different liqueurs is created. The distillery employed a hundred workers in the 1930s.

After the Second World War, Bonal bottles rum such as Lauraïca or Rum from two valleys in reference to the geography surrounding the town of Saint-Laurent du Pont. The rum has a 40% strength and fits in a one liter bottle.

Unfortunately, tastes change and whisky imposes itself in post-war society. The small business closed in 1976.

Rum Santa Lucilia, 1970s, Martinique, Galibert and Varon

It is one of the most important French rum houses of the 20th century. The Galibert et Varon rums came mainly from Martinique and Jamaica, but it is very likely that other Caribbean territories supplied this House.

Galibert et Varon was born in the middle of the 19th century in Bordeaux. The first years are rather devoted to the importation of rum in order to resell it to retailers. It was only a few decades later that the company produced its own bottlings. Between 1895 and 1935, there were no less than 22 brands created by Galibert and Varon. As the rum market moved to Le Havre in the 1920s, the House established itself there at the end of the 1930s. At the end of the war, it found itself in competition with large groups such as Marie Brizzard, Bardinet and the Pernod house.

This Lucilia rum, from Martinique, is titled at 43%, which is a common level of consumption at that time. It is very probably one of the last brands created by Galibert and Varon, as an independent house located at 25 cours du Médoc in Bordeaux, before it became a subsidiary of the giant Pernod-Ricard around 1980. Its headquarters will then be moved to Marseilles.

In order to continue reading, we offer you another rarity:

The Rhum Clément 1970

Written with passion by

Matthieu Lange
Matthieu Lange
Spirit Advisor