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Barbancourt 5 Star Reserve Especiale 8-Year Rum is agricultural, meaning it's produced from fermented sugar cane juice rather than the more typical molasses. The sugar cane juice is double distilled and aged for eight years in Limousin oak barrels.
Dupré Barbancourt created the Barbancourt rum recipe in 1862 in Haiti, where the rum is still produced today. A French national, Barbancourt incorporated traditional French methods including double-distillation in the process.
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This is my first agricole. This Rhum provides a very different experience from what I'm used to and makes for a great variety piece to add to my young shelf.
The color is a light gold and the body is a bit thin for my taste. There's a bit of early burn but it fades very quickly, especially as it mellows in the glass.
Where this Rhum stands out to me is the dry taste and earthy notes. The aged smoky taste sneaks in every once in a while.
This won't be the first bottle I grab, but it will firmly belong in the rotation.
This rum is very smooth as compared to the Barbancourt younger runs. The taste is also very nice. The aftertaste ruined it a bit for me. It's the first rum I tasted with a charcoal aftertaste.
Un rhum puissant, pur jus et pas pour les diplomatiqueux. Brûle presque pétrolifere pourrait le caractériser, avec de la banane flambée sur le verre vide. A ne pas mettre sur tout les palais !
Original 5/17 - This rum is very good; I like it a lot. It's exceptionally smooth, and sweet enough to satisfy most palates. (It's also pretty reasonably priced.) But it's just not that exciting.
It's also quite a bit sweeter than I was expecting for a French-style rum, but it's a great contrast to the world of AOC Martinique Rhum Agricole I've so far only dabbled in. (This is agricultural rum made from sugar cane juice, but not produced in the same region or according to the same rules or processes as most most other agricoles, hence the rather large difference in character and price. To me, Barbancourt is like an agricole that skews toward Spanish-style rums.)
I'd wager this bottle is a crowd-pleaser (I'm rather surprised the rating is so low... who would give this a 4?!), and would be thrilled to arrive at a party where a giant bowl of Barbancourt Rum Cup was being served!
7+
Update 1/18 - For once I completely agree with my initial review :) Here's the update after revisiting it alongside Barbancourt 3, 5, and 15-years.
43% ABV. Very slight nose. Less brine than its younger siblings, more oak and caramel. Still some fruit. Very smooth. But not very exciting. Dull. Medium-short finish.
This rum displays neither the youthful exuberance and freshness of a young agricole, nor substantial refinement from wood aging. The 5-year is good. The 15-year is delightful. The 8-year sits between them, but rather than being a Goldilocks rum ("just right"), it stops at merely being not too much of anything at all. It's too weak, and too timid.
Still, as a mass-produced rum, it's fine. I heartily recommend it. But personally, I see no reason to get this one over either the 5- or 15-year.
7+
My first "Rhum" Agricole so I can't compare it to others of this type. I will say that it's very smooth and not very sweet which I expected. The base flavor reminded me of RL Seale's 10 year but with less complexity of leather, oak, and vanilla if that makes sense. There is an earthy natural flavor to this one that I wouldn't describe as bad, but I will use it as a mixer just because I personally prefer more sweetness in rums that I drink neat or on the rocks. Smokey and grassy is how I would describe this as well. Smooth rum overall.
Nothing stands out as extraordinary, and doesn't have the complexity of other aged Rums. Taste of sugarcane and oak with a touch of raisins. Still works as a sipper for me and I personally wouldn't mix it, as it has a nice, distinct taste (only for Kremas, where it works beautifully).
I don't care if this undermines my rum qualifications but this is my only Mai Tai rum. Grassiness marries with Pierre Ferrand dry curacao elegantly and the wood the Barbancourt takes on stands up to the heaviest dem syrup and orgeat. You can drink a cocktail with only 1.5 ounces of Barbancourt and 6 ounces of juice and not forget that you are drinking rum when you're drinking it. Barbancourt all day my babies.
Barbancourt 8-year is the tiki rum of choice for many an exotic cocktail. It blends exceptionally well with fruit, but is refined enough to make a perfectly acceptable sipper.
Of all my rums, this one has the most unique taste. I love its crispness and the herbaceousness it brings. I like to mix it with fever tree ginger beer.
Nez : fruits exotiques comme la banane
Bouche : goût toasté de caramel, bois brûlé, noisette et pain grillé avec une finale de goût d’épice.
Au final un bon rhum agricole, mais il y aura place à plus de complexité au niveau des arômes.
"palate is powerful, smooth, and well-balanced'"
"Barbancourt 5 Star rum review by the Ultimate Rum Guide"
Nose is surprisingly “molasses” like.
"Nice citrus notes, a little lime, a hint of lemon moving onto a more fruity green grapes."
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Not bad, but nothing special
5
/10
out of 10
I was out looking for a good sipper but my local stores were all inexplicably out of anything good so I took a chance on this one based on reviews and my wanting to try another Agricole. The first drink I had was a small neat. It started out mellow enough but suddenly went south and kicked me in the teeth with a very whiskey-like booze taste with heavy oak and grass flavors. Not terrible. Just jarring/unsettling. For round two, I dropped an ice cube into a nice rocks glass, swirled it around with my finger and jumped back in. The ice cube definitely balanced everything out, but it wasn’t until the cube completely melted that I found it pleasantly drinkable. The light amber makes it a good candidate for mixed drinks or blender cocktails. I’ll end up drinking this bottle over time, but it is a really lackluster, anti-climactic drink. A decent price at $28, but nothing I’ll be breaking down doors to buy another bottle of.