Clement XO

The Clément rum vieux X.O. hasn't only a nice bottle and packaging, but it's certainly a premium french aged agricole rum!

Nice to drink neat, it isn't too strong and has interesting floral and oak notes!

Smells piggy brown suger and dried plum, apricot hints of clove and lavender mind caramel vanilla and sweet French oak and a flush of flavors to long to list in this box

Tried the Clement XO Rhum at the Cuba Casa de Mojito in Ho Chi Minh City and the place was for sure not lacking the ambiance, but the Clement XO Rhum was such a big disappointment. In a blind test this is a Cognac. But I was not in a blind test and man the burn on this rhum is just nasty. It is so dry that the air around you sucks into the glass. If you like Rhum Agricole's in general terms, then add 3 points to the score. If you don't, safely skip this one since it's over priced and over hyped.

Beautiful light golden color with the first nose of fruit notes like apricot and a very light woody.
At the second nose, there are notes of spices and dried fruits with this woody which seems to be present permanently without taking the top. A superb roundness in the mouth with a complex rum with this woody flavor that does not leave you. Vanilla comes on the end. A beautiful length in finesse with this wood that does not finish ...

Wauv! Lots of taste in this one, even a bit of smoke maybe liquorice and some oak

Top notch looking bottle containing a beautiful golden, amber colored liquid. The legs clings very persistently if you give the glass a light swirl. Supposedly this blend contains rum dating all the way back to 1976,1970 and 1952. Pretty impressive. The nose is very compelling and elegant with pears, peaches, sweet tobacco and light oak. Sipping reveals a rum that manage to explode on the tongue while being exceptionally refined at the same time sending warm tingles to my toes. I find notes of burnt sugar, wood, peaches, pears and hay. On the long, warming finish a little nutmeg peek's out, leaving me wanting for more. Exceptional agricole, with a broader appeal than most french rum I think. Swaying towards a 10 on this beauty.

and soon to be gone. blended with rum from 1952 and they are running out. whisky and brandy lovers will also like this rum.

After reading all the wonderful things about agricole rum from Martinique I tried to find any local/regional liquor store that carried any. In some places the clerks didn't know what agricole rum is. None of the stores had any such rums.

However this past weekend my wife and I took a little romantic weekend getaway to Panama City Beach, Florida (about a 2-hour drive from home). Whenever I am in someplace out of my region I will check out the liquor stores. In one such shop I noticed the bottle of this sitting on the top shelf behind the counter. I asked the clerk about it and she told me it had been sitting up there for a long, long time and no one showed any interest in it so the owner marked it down. Way down. In order to sell it. Under $100 actually. Definitely was not passing up on such a good deal.

I had read many glowing reviews about this rum and while I was opening the bottle my thoughts went to whether or not this rum would live up to the hype.

It does.

And then some.

This is the first, and thus far, only specified agricole rum in my collection [UPDATE: On a recent trip to New Orleans I purchased more agricole rums including other Clement rums -- reviews hopefully soon.]. It is quite smooth but drier than most in my collection. Much drier. But the complex flavors it has are remarkable. And call me crazy but it seems to be smooth AND have a bite to it at the same time (44% ABV probably explains that). Hard to explain. Since this is make from sugar cane juice rather than molasses the flavor is uniquely different. One source says the rum comes from a combination of "some liquid from the famed 1970, 1976 and 1952 vintages" while another says there are some liquid from four different years. I pick up on a smooth sweetness along with some sharpness from the oak. A little maple syrupiness to it, perhaps?

Definitely a sipping rum. To use it as a mixer would be a cryin' shame.

My taste does not run to agricoles, as thorough readers of this site will have noticed. I appreciate what the French islands are trying to do, and the others I've tried - Clement 5 Year, Barbancourt - meet clear quality standards. But, early on I decided I want to appreciate rum for its rum-ness, not its ability to taste like fine cognac.

Still, I had a chance to try the XO and it changed my mind about what an agricole rum can be (well, as it should for the $100/btl price). The off-gold color signals its difference from the products of the non-AOC islands. The bottle is magnificent, the swirl in the glass perhaps even more so. And the finish was almost perfect.

The aroma and mouth-feel, though, take me back to my cognac days. Yes, I could love this in that way. I could forget it was rum. And I'd put this among the better cognacs I've tasted, which leads me to rate this highly.

The trouble is, I don't prefer this flavor. If you enjoy cognac, this is your rum. If not, I'd avoid the agricoles and look to the molasses-based rums of other islands for excitement.

辛口でキレがあるタイプでアルコール感があるが、甘い余韻が残るり、バランスが良い。
xoらしいコクがあり非常にエレガントなテイストがある。

It's a below average for the range, but it has a lot of layers.

I remember reading reviews for rums from "rumdood" many years ago when I was starting my first liquor cabinet. His rum reviews prompted me to buy this as a blind purchase (the most expensive bottle in my collection at the time)
To this date it remains in my top 3 rums.

The nose is all sweet sugar cane juice, cinnamon and light nutmeg and florals.

Coloration is light gold, lighter than you would expect for such deep flavor. Almost like grade A light amber maple syrup.

The taste is incredibly rich and fresh for a rum that features such old casks. Amazing! best agricole I have sampled.

I hope one day to be able to purchase this rum again

Best Agricole ever tasted. It’s not what you expect when you taste an Agricole. This one has a nice nose which is not very common when it comes to Agricole. The taste is not an explosion like many other Agricoles (which I also like), instead it’s very smooth and subtil with a long and nice afterburn.
Picture: My top five shelf & My opened bottle.

Jeg var fornyelig til romsmagning med Mads Heitmann fra romhatten.
Denne var den anden rom vi smagte.
En dejlig Agricole rum med noter af eg - karamel og lakrids.

Great rum. Very smooth. This is a great sipping rum.

Fuity and tough, with lots of personality. One of the best agricoles!

The odour isn't that incredible but the flawor. Wow... just wow.
It starts burned and soon you get a long rich taste of dried fruit, licorice and lots of other nice flawors. A taste lasting longer than any other rhum.

Nice Oak and wooden flavours and hints of a sweet tobacco. The alcohol isn't too strong and although is hot isn't overpowering or unpleasant. At the GBP 66 price it's the towards the higher end of my expenditure, it's good but not mind blowing.

Nouveau rhum haut de gamme de chez Clément, assemblage de rhums de 6 ans et +. Titre 42° d'alcool.
Cette référence, Elixir, semble remplacer le XO.
Design : superbe avec un joli écrin et une très belle carafe (celle du XO), le rhum a une couleur dorée.
Nez : tonique, très fruité, vieux fruits et de boisé.
En bouche : attaque assez douce, puis vient une dominante de fruits (orange), d'épices (cannelle) . Le boisé et les tanins sont assez discrets, surprenant pour un rhum vieux.
Finale : longue, canne à sucre avec là encore un petit goût fruité.
Bien mais je préfère le Homère Clément, plus classique.

Like a fine cognac, this sipping rhum is smooth from first sip through the entire glass. Perfect as an after dinner drink, the nose, color, taste and finish are very impressive.

Un vrai coup de coeur. Goût puissant, long avec un rétro surprenant.

Color caramelo y de sabor en boca anaranjado y caneloso en nariz grande en aromas

smooth English style rum with hints of oak and coffee.