Clairin Vaval

Funky aroma, anis seed in the nose with sugar syrop, fresh citrus taste with woody anis touches. Very special funky rum! Different but so good!

Clairin Vaval Ansyen 21 montsh Caroni cask

barva světlé nažloutlá
- vůně jemné agricole, nasládlé, spousta banánů a travnatost
- chuť jemná, nasládlá, 48,6%, lehká travnatost, vanilka
příjemný Clairin

Hard to explain why it feels so warm, but not burning.
Hard to explain why I'm thinking of sugar cane only, but not of all those hundreds sorts of rums I've consumed.
Hard to explain explain why we are sitting on the sofa - as this label suggests this is the drink for the dancing party, so seduce your half and start to rave!
Bravo Clairin!

One of the simpler Clairins - maybe good entry in the Champions Legue

Of the four clairins that I recently bought, this one was initially the most mellow. Lots of grassy notes, but overall just average. The cork also fell apart when I opened it. The cork on my new bottle of Clairin Le Rocher was even worse. I have updated that review from a year ago to reflect this nightmare to save the juice.

I was quite disappointed to spend the bucks on two clairins that I rated at 5-6. So, I am always out to prove that the old adage of "two wrongs don't make a right" is up for debate. So I took this clairin and the Clairin Casimir 2018 to mix half and half, and then add a small amount of simple syrup and lime juice to keep it simple. Of course, I added lots of ice. That was one really disgusting drink!!!! So this tells me that these clairins are designed for the craft cocktail bartender "wizards". Sorry, but when one has to add bizarre ingredients like pomegranate juice, elderberry liqueur, or other means of disguising the true flavors of the spirit just to be daringly different, that argument does not fly with me. If the spirit tastes good in the first place, then there is no need to disguise how bad it is with flavors that don't belong. As you can tell, I am not a fan of the craft cocktail industry.

Update six days later: This clairin is the one to blame for the disgusting drink just mentioned. The Casimir 2018 is at least drinkable on it's own with lots of ice. I have had to come up with endless means to disguise the undesirable part of this clairin. This left me no choice except to drop my initial rating of 6 down to a 5. The fact that it has still not been poured down the drain shows why it never got my rating of 1. The Casimir 2018 got bumped up from a 5 to a 6. However, I will not buy either one again. As for the Le Rocher and Sajous, these two most definitely will be repeat purchases.

So which of the flavors in this one do I find to be so offensive to me? Rubber tires! This flavor was also mentioned in some of the "highly recommended" rums such as Caroni Trinidad 17 Year. No thanks, but I have chosen to save hundreds of dollars in not buying that one. For any other rums with rubber in their list of flavors, I will most certainly pass on those. The fairly new Plantation Fiji 2020 also wreaked of my old tire patch kit from my bicycling days. No more rubber tasting for me!

A beautiful balance of vegetal and spice. My second favorite in this line.

Notes of ripe banana, guayaba, and grass.

I really like every Clairin but the backstory of this is why I prefer this as one of my favorites. Pure, spirit driven, round and tastefull, it is what I search in a agricole...

It is damn amazing that I can sit in a Pittsburgh tiki bar and enjoy several rhums made with "spontaneous" fermentation in a "homemade unique pot still" on a farm halfway around the world. The unique methods produce a unique spirit that's kind of hard to rate. Clairin might not be to everyone's taste, but I'd urge every rum nerd to at least try a glass if they have the opportunity. (The reasonable price point should help.)

In a single sitting, I tried three Clairin brought to us by Velier. Like the others (Clairin Le Rocher and Clairin Sajous) it's a mix of Jamaican and Martinique/agricole styles. This one is HEAVY esthers on the nose, all kinds of spoiled banana and tropical fruit, a heavy smell that carries and makes me want to sit an open glass in my room like an air freshener. When tasting it, though, I get gentle flavors of grass and hay.

After drinking some straight, I found it phenomenal as a very simple ti' punch; just a little lime peel and a few drops of cane syrup complimented this one perfectly.

Smells/tastes like a blend of grassy Rhum Agricole and a medium ester Jamaican...but still something very unique that can only be described as CLAIRIN!

Primitive means great! Small pot still, a rum full of esters and congeners. WOW.