When a group of enthusiasts meet a bottler as passionate as Plantation, it could only lead to a very nice project … and more than likely a memorable bottling !
And this is exactly what happened in February 2019, when the team of the group « Plantation Rum Addict » went to the Château de Bonbonnet to select their own vintage from 10 different barrels proposed by Alexandre Gabriel.
The long tasting that followed will highlight a barrel in particular, a 2009 Long Pond barrel.
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal 
© Alan Van Hal
Distilled in 2009 at Long Pond therefore, in Jamaica, this rum will have aged 9 years on the island and 1 last year in Cognac in a cask from the house of Ferrand. The mark of the latter is VRW and it titles a big 61%.
VRW is the mark used to reference distilled rums as it was done at the Vale Royal distillery, which closed in 1959. It simply means « Vale Royal Wedderburn«
It is therefore a « Wedderburn » style, which indicates an ester rate between 200 and 300 gr / hlpa. We are on a style called « light » .. for a Jamaican rum of course 🙂
Last important information, the dosage is 0 on this single cask … no added sugar whatsoever.
Nose
Greedy and warm … what is directly impressive is limiting the absence of alcohol for a spirit grading 61.4%! It’s really amazing and suddenly, a nice surprise.
We find beautiful buttery, brioche, pastry notes with frangipane, almond paste, vanilla, some flowers and some more woody and spicy notes including mocha and milk chocolate.
The fruits are of course also part with the banana, the mango and the well ripe orchard fruits. Some more typical notes of Jamaica as a light solvent should also be noted as well as a touch of rum candies.
But this nose is above all something really balanced, greedy or nothing seems to exceed.
A very pleasant nose would be I would like to say, which is not far from the 2003 Clarendon in fact, but with more vigor.
Palate
The entry on the palate is more lively, fresh and really delicious.
The fruits take up a large part of the place, all coated with a fine caramel and supported by a more woody and cocoa presence.
We feel more the 61.4% but without it being too much, precisely this is what makes the charm of this undenatured selection except for a passage in cognac barrels which will probably have helped to slightly round off the angles.
Over time, this spirit is always as lush, with a beautiful mango, banana, apple, spices, tobacco, vanilla and always this very pastry aspect.
The length is sustained, on a slightly smoky and woody allure.
Price
75€
Conclusion
Very nice selection which has kept its original characteristics while preserving a pleasure in tasting.
You can smell Jamaican raw rum but in Plantation sauce, and that without bad jokes !
What would be very interesting and educational, it would be a small box with a rum as it will have been after its first aging and the result following the passage to Cognac.
Could it be for Cuvée n ° 2 ….? Well yes, I noticed the number 1 on the label, we don’t put that on a bottle for nothing 🙂
Overproof !
Scote
89/100
