Longueteau VS 3-Year

Picked this one up at a longueteau tasting. Along with the blanc 50, this one seemed the best value of their line up.
The rum is golden amber with nice clingy legs in the glass after a little swirl.
The nose is a symphony of cherries, marcipan and black grapes. It’s all a little grassy and woody. Pleasent and intriguing at the same time.
The palate starts of with the grapes and grassy notes, then roll’s onto wood , nutmeg and marcipan in the middle, ending on a nice peppery and tingling finish that leaves you with the cherries lingering in the mouth for a good while.
In general I find that guadeloupe rum has a fuller body and is a tad less dry then your average agricole, wich suits my taste buds very well.
This one is excelent value if your into agricole.

Longueteau VS is a rhum agricole produced on the French island of Base Terre in Guadeloupe. It is identifiable by the French spelling of rum with an "h", which is also a strong indication that it is a produced using sugar cane juice as opposed to molasses, as is the case with many other types of rum. This is where the term "rhum agricole" comes from. France is also the only country that has standards for the production of rum. Therefore, Longueteau is able to call itself vieux (old) or VS ("very special"), meaning that it has been aged in oak barrels for at least three years.

According to the label, the Longueteau VS has been aged for more than three years in oak barrels previously used in the production of Cognac. It is 42% alcohol by volume. The price at The Port (Nova Scotia Liquor Commission) in Halifax, for a 700ml bottle is $73.67.

APPEARANCE
The rum (rhum) is clear and a light amber colour. It is light enough to be considered golden, but is lighter than most dark or amber rums. Swirled in a glass the legs are long and narrow.

NOSE
After swirling the rum in the glass, there is an immediate scent of fruit - dried cherries or apricots is what I pick up. A longer, deeper sniff reveals a harsher scent that burns the nostrils a bit. Here, the scent is more like leather and spices. The nose of the rum mellows out significantly by adding ice or water.

PALATE
Tasting the rum I am struck by how much it tastes like a single malt Scotch. Served neat, it is very gentle in the mouth. It has a light and mellow taste with a little bit of a burn once it reaches the belly. Reminiscent of Scotch, it has a wet and woody, or peaty, taste. There is a little spice there too, but not as much as you would expect from the scent.

Adding ice or water to the rum hardens the taste. It becomes more peat-like and even a bit chalky tasting.

RATING
Generally speaking, I prefer English and Spanish style rums over French rhum agricole. The Longueteau distillery has an excellent reputation, and this a well-crafted rum, but I prefer mine to be sweeter than this. For that reason I give the Longueteau VS a rating of 7. If you enjoy lighter, spicier rums, or rhum agricole in general, this would be a very good choice for you.

Un nectar à ouvrir pour les amateurs, cette distillerie produit vraiment dès rhum exceptionnel, long en bouche suave et boisé

Un super rhum au regard de son age.pour 30 euros c est un tres tres bon rhum agricole.moins fin que le xo.mais un tres bon rhum pour ceux qui aiment les rhums sucres et doux.je le conseille vivement.note 8.5+.

i like guadeloupe, i like agricole. i like blanc rhum witohout anything else, just pure. this is my first test of a distillery, if the base is good, the other ones should be good, also. the vs from longueteau is a very good craft. simply to show how good agricole can be. this is one of the best distilleries in the whole world, i think! :-)

Distillerie de qualité qui produit de tres bon rhum agricole ici le fut de cognac rend le nez particulier pour ma part mais cela reste un bon rhum agréable

Nose: faint honey and vanilla mix with something faintly floral over top the beautiful wood aromas. The palate has a discernible saltiness up front, with dry wood, some spice and cereal notes, similar to whisky, before the finish ends with a banana bread note. It’s quite young and lacking some harmony, but is a worthy sipper. This would make a beautiful after dinner rhum.

Purchased a bottle of Longueteau VS Rum in spite of the fact that I don’t particularly enjoy Agricole rums. This one, however, surprised me. The taste is definitely different than molasses based rums but the flavours are very much to my taste. Nicely done.

Update (2019-08-29)
Second night of tasting this rhum and I am really pleased with this purchase. So much that I bought two more bottles!

Plus doux que le 50° blanc, le fut de cognac charge le goût de boisé, je n'ai pas ressenti le côté vanille. Cependant agréable au nez, la texture est lisse et agreable

Alcool assez présent, sur les fruits sec et épice.