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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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Posted
4 months ago
Not quite sure what to make of this, but it's going down fairly fast!
The smell and taste seems very distinct, and unlike either Agricole or molasses based rums, but it's own thing.
Smells kind of floral, with an undercoat of solvent, and something darker but indistinct.
Taste is remarkably lacking burn for something so young, with the floral vibe adding the French oak, and then the modest burn coming in on a dry oak finish.
When I first opened this, it didn't offer much, but it's come out of its shell over time without ever bringing anything complex to the table. Overall, it's very easy drinking and reminiscent of Spanish style rum, but with a French oak, cognac like, vibe too.
For £35, it's decent and very drinkable. I quite like it in it's own way, but I imagine wanting to try something different rather than buy more of this again
Posted
5 months ago
One of the first of this style I tried over a decade ago. Definitely a good intro to Agricole, but leaves more to be desired.
Update: I recently revisited this rum after a long hiatus, updating from a 6 to a 7. It's very approachable, affordable, and smooth. Nothing to dislike other than there are tastier aged cane juice based rums, however nothing really in this price range.
Posted
6 months ago
Not really like any other rum I've had, you definitely get some of the grassy agricole character due to being a cane juice distillate, but it's pot-stilled as opposed to column, and imparts a whole other mouthfeel and flavor profile. Citrus and molasses are prominent, with herbal, grassy hints on the back. Definitely worth trying.
Posted
6 months ago
bohuzel vubec mě tohle nebavilo a ve výsledku tohle mělo horší hodnocení
Posted
7 months ago
Very easy rum good stuff smooth and a pleasant drink
Posted
7 months ago
this is simply one of the best values out there.
Great stuff, works surprisingly well at (low) 43% abv.
Posted
10 months ago
Decent bar level rum for mixing mixing with a diet coke. Better than the standard well level.
Posted
11 months ago
Light and fruity, but with a peppery sting of alcohol. I expected it more balanced after 8 years in limousin oak. Pepper, pepper, pepper.
Posted
1 year ago
I liked the previous Barbancourt and this one does not disappoint. A woody rum with vegetation funk and grassy citrus. A bit too sweet but hopefully an older variety mellows that out. Good Haitian Rum.
Posted
1 year ago
Smoky taste. Sweeter with time but nothi'g exceptional.Not my kind of rum.
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Just as I remembered it from 30 years ago
6
/10
out of 10
Way back in the late eighties during leaner times when travel was preferred over fine rums (which were not even available back then), this was my occasional "luxury" rum. My usual ones in those days were Cruzan Gold, Appleton V/X, and Pusser's Navy Strength. In those days, El Dorado, Diplomatico, Pampero, and the like could not even be found on shelves in my area. The complete Barbancourt line of rhums could easily be found in French speaking Louisiana. They were not cheap, so this here 8 Year Old was always my "luxury rum". I had absolutely no idea back then why the difference in taste was due to it being an agricole rhum aged in Limousin oak casks. I just knew that it was totally different from all of the other rums that I had tried at the time.
So why have I waited so long to try this one again? The reviews that mention smoke and "after the quake" decline in quality threw me off. Recently trying their 15 Year old neat at a bar also did not help. So after carefully studying all of these reviews again, I figured that there was less than a 25% chance that I would wind up with a bottle from a bad batch. I took the $27 gamble on this bottle and brought it home along with two pricey aged rhum agricoles from Martinique. This one easily beat those other two and I really lucked out on my new bottle of Barbancourt.
Just as I remembered it, it is very buttery and delicate with no smoke flavor whatsoever. The burn is kept to a minimal. The aroma is more floral than grassy, as well as the taste. Had I rated this one back then, it would qualify as a perfect 10, but these days I have found many more rums that are better, even if they cost much more.