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Book for punchs & rhums arrangés All the recipes for sparkling, fruity, and surprising punches and arranged rums, not forgetting the great classics. |
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Caroni 10th Anniversary We are pleased to present one of the centerpieces of our 10th years anniversary collection... |
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Flat Peach Brandy (Pesche Saturno) made by one of the best distillers in the world: Capovilla |
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The whole Excellence team attended Whisky Live for another high-profile event. We can never praise the excellent organization of this event enough, especially when it comes to managing the crowds. But let's get to the heart of the matter—Alexandre, Florent, Laurent, and Matthieu are here to share their favorites!
My highlights at Whisky Live 2024: when the palate celebrates!
My favorites were unsurprisingly found in the VIP area of the event, where the creations from the Foundations range were gathered. We began our journey with Stade's Rum, or rather Planteray. Their new branding blurred the lines a bit – honestly, I couldn't tell whether I was at Plantation, Planteray, or Stade’s, but no matter – the tall bottle with its famous raffia was unmistakable.
Première dégustation : le WIRD High Esters, un Barbade provenant de chez West Indies Rum Distillery, limité à 300 bouteilles. On se croirait presque en Jamaïque, avec ces arômes de banane et d’ananas bien mûr. Une pointe de verdeur qui rappelle le mezcal, et une finale lactée, persistante et vanillée. Autant dire que j’ai été conquis !
Ensuite, cap sur la Jamaïque avec un Clarendon embouteillé par Planteray, mark MLC, soit 490 gr d’esters par hectolitre. Ce rhum a passé 23 ans à vieillir (18 en ex-fût de bourbon et 5 en fût de cognac), et quelle expérience ! Un nez multivitaminé, une bouche ample et généreuse à 51,5 %, toujours sur des fruits exotiques. La finale ? Longue, cacaotée, avec des épices douces. Une autre belle bouteille, limitée à 300 exemplaires. Un vrai trésor à avoir dans sa collection.
Nous finissons ce stand avec le Barbados WIRD 20 ans (distillé en 2004), où les arômes floraux et épicés rencontrent des notes de thé. La bouche suit fidèlement le nez, et c’est pour moi un vrai gage de qualité. Douceur et gourmandise sur des saveurs de mangue, de fève de tonka et de muscade. Sérieusement, Planteray, si vous lisez ça, sachez que ma valise est déjà prête pour un départ immédiat !
Next, a detour to agricole rum with Neisson, one of the last family-owned distilleries in Martinique. This year, the distillery combined toasting profiles of the barrels. To recap, specific toasting profiles allow "educating" young white rums, giving them a bold character. The result? A blend of profiles 105, 107, and 62. A true Neisson: indulgent, balanced, and with tremendous charm. The bottle, designed by Carole Aurore, is simply stunning. A must-have.
And now, a reduced rum! Yes, you heard me right! Me, a lover of cask strength, speaking about reduced rum. Enter Papalin, a brand conceived by Luca Gargano, offering two versions this year: an Overproof (57%) and a reduced (47%). While the Overproof version was a bit too fiery for me, the reduced version had rare elegance. A blend of Long Pond (STCE), Worthy Park, and Hampden C<>H. For under €50, it would be a shame to miss out on this gem.
Then back to Jamaica with Habitation Velier, a Hampden aged in ex-sherry casks. The mark LROK, combined with this aging, reveals incredibly indulgent notes. The 60.5% are perfectly controlled, with no harshness. It was a real favorite! Limited to 965 bottles, so don’t wait.
Finally, let's end with the Nine Leaves distillery. Opened in 2013 and now closed, La Maison & Velier bought the barrels to offer us what the distillery never got to market under the direction of Yoshiharu Takeuchi. The bottle design is inspired by Edo-era Japanese playing cards, and it’s a feast for the eyes and the palate.
First stop: the Nine Leaves Last Drop, a black sugar honey distillate reduced to 62%. True to the house’s signature pear aromas, it also presents honeyed, vanilla notes, with a touch of citrus and apricot. A true collector’s item, both in design and taste.
Closing with a 7-year-old version aged in bourbon casks (59%). Here’s everything I love: indulgence, exotic fruits, sandalwood, and a touch of coconut. The finish lives up to expectations, with a hint of licorice to finish on a high note. Magnificent!
After 60 tastings, it's time for me to head to a livelier space: Cocktail Street! I’ll let my palate rest and pass the baton to my team who accompanied me.
Twenty years of Whisky Live calls for a celebration, but I must confess, with only one day on site, my focus was 99% on rum—it's a professional hazard!
We started gently with Santa Teresa, who introduced us to their new 1796 Arabica finish. This rum benefited from aging in oak barrels that had held coffee beans infused in rum. An original approach, I admit, which I had reservations about, fearing it would lose the rum's authenticity. However, here, it’s a complete success. This profile brings an unusual vegetal and toasted note for a Ron, giving it a powerful and complex character. The shift by some South American houses towards more originality in expressing their terroir is, for me, very appealing, reconciling me with a tradition I had tended to overlook.
J.M: Single Barrels 2014 and 2016
Heading towards the Antilles, I missed last year’s J.M release at the Maison du Whisky edition. This time, I didn’t miss the boat, and I have no regrets! The single barrels 2014 and 2016 are true successes. I would describe them as beautiful classics, while also showcasing cask strength offerings that bring a unique dimension on the palate. The 2016 boasts a certain freshness while still delivering rich buttery indulgence on the palate, while the 2014 has a deeper oak presence, without any astringency.
Domaine Ricci: Papa Rouyo Old Rum
Now to Guadeloupe, but this time to an independent producer. The Ricci family is launching a new brand under the name Domaine Ricci, which will feature a selection of various spirits. However, in this range, there’s also rum, and I was particularly struck by their selection of an Old Rum from Papa Rouyo, with a nose reminiscent of bagasse perfumes warming in the sun, a touch of baked apple, and on the palate, green tea flavors. Original yet reassuring. Bravo!
Silver Seal Uitvlugt 26 Years and Enmore 34 Years
To continue with the independents, I give special mention to Silver Seal with their 26-year-old Uitvlugt, which has an unusual freshness and sweetness for this legendary rum selector known for British profiles. A perfect balance between currant touches and vegetal sweetness.
The Enmore 34 years, already present last year, is, for me, one of those monumental rums, evoking coffee and underbrush notes, opening up to candied fruit and plum. An exceptional profile.
Velier: Nine Leaves White Rum
Lastly, we were all eagerly awaiting the Velier bottlings, especially those from the Nine Leaves distillery, now closed. While all the aged versions are remarkable, my personal favorite is its simplest expression: the white rum. It’s a true UFO, with unique fermentation notes from the Japanese terroir, including touches of white truffle, paired with exceptional sweetness. Both complex and straightforward in its expression, it is, quite simply, a monument.
Cheers!
A stop at Compassbox, one of my favorite whisky bottlers. I love their quirky side. They always seem to reinvent themselves. This year, we had two expressions, Nectarosity, with a pastry-like profile, and Orchard House, more vegetal. The Sherry was lovely with the Crimson cask, though more classic, and a well-executed peated whisky, The Peated Monster.
This year’s goal was to familiarize myself with Saké. We are fortunate at WL to have a very comprehensive stand featuring traditional sakés from the house Hokko Masamune and the Tears of the Levant, a French enthusiast passionate about saké, creating interesting expressions, as well as modern sakés from Takeno.
After this tour, I returned to rum, with the new Equiano Ominira, a beautiful blend. Its higher proof adds much more complexity.
Whisky Live featured a stand for their new Foundation catalog with two releases, a Plantation Wird Bunnahabhain vintage 2004, 20 years at 61% first fill Oloroso Sherry Butt, a beautiful product, and a Planteray Wird High Ester, a Barbados from 2022. The Wird range once again showcases its expertise.
A quick stop at the Barbancourt stand to taste the Volcanique Cane, this 15-year-old rum finished in Islay casks. It’s the second of its kind after the Bar 1802 edition.
The Maison Longueteau offers many new releases with a new permanent range "Souvenir" consisting of a timeless white rum and old rums, Tradition and Hommage. This range, inspired by François Longueteau’s memories, brings new indulgent expressions.
Papillon, another brand of the house, will launch a new range of three double-maturation rums early next year. These are rums aged in two different types of barrels, always partly in cognac casks and another in more unusual casks for Maison Longueteau. We tasted three high-proof expressions, a blend with a Mezcal cask, a Sherry cask, and a Sauternes cask. This new range is very interesting, with fresh new profiles.
On the second day, I will join Florent and Alexandre, and together, we appreciated the same products.
I would also mention Cocktail Street, which once again delighted us with the variety of stands and cocktails, and bartenders taking good care of us, featuring Saint James, Generous Gin, La Maison Velier, Campari, Angostura. Thanks, friends, for the cocktails!
Agricole rums once again held a prominent place despite the few new releases. But among them, the new Neisson Bio Mizunara Cask shines with its fruity aromas and sweetness. On the other hand, Papa Rouyo presented very interesting old rums from the Tanmpo series, with aging in ex-Port casks, Armagnac, and Cognac/Bourbon. I also particularly enjoyed the Montebello cask strength, 6 years, with its beautiful balance between vegetal notes and white fruit, as well as the upcoming column cask strength white rum at 79%, from yellow cane. Among existing references, the return to Bally 2005 and Trois Rivières 2004 was a refreshing experience!
If we head over to the Indian Ocean, we feast on the fruits of Savanna's Absolu 2024, the silky and fruity woodiness of New Grove 2008, 15 years, cask strength, the harlequin fruit notes of Isautier's Agent Double Fusion, co-fermented from molasses rum and pure juice, and finally, the soft woody-fruity flavors of Isautier La Cour, a 13-year-old agricole rum at 59%.
Let’s give a shout-out to the geek crowd, saluting the roasted power of the Hampden 1753 HLCF and the fruity intensity of the Hampden Greathouse 2024.
The Nine Leaves made a splash at the Velier stand, with the 2017, ex-bourbon for its explosive and generous notes and the small batch, Russian oak cask, at 58% for its more pronounced woodiness. The two Papalin Jamaica High Esters were remarkable and efficient, full of tangy fruit jam. In the Magnum collection, Alex Webb series, I enjoyed the Saint-James 12 years, evolving, powerful, and fruity, as well as the Clarendon, which had great depth.
At La Maison du Whisky’s stand, I remember this Silver Seal, Uitvlugt 26 years at 51.6%, with fruit dominating a beautiful vegetal depth, as well as the 34-year-old Enmore for its more roasted notes.
We’ll end with one last favorite at Color of Rum, the 1991 Guyana, Uitvlugt, 68.7%, with its interwoven notes of coffee and copper, along with fruity and vegetal touches.
And the Latinos? We didn’t forget them. The new Santa Teresa in Arabica coffee cask is a great success, with vegetal coffee notes adding to those of dried fruits, already present! A true success from across the Atlantic. And the chef's surprise, a 1956 Cuban rum, the Hoy Como Hayer, a powerful, chocolaty Latino with an exceptional finish on the palate.
I’ll end with two products outside the rum sphere. I loved the Grosperrin Cognac from 1945, which offers a great balance between wood, spices, and fruit, and I invite you to discover the delightful Super Shochu Spirits made from sweet potatoes and rice.
