Barbancourt 5 Star Reserve Especiale 8-Year

This rum is pretty delicious. It has strong oak flavors but not overpowering. Reminds me of Appleton 12 with a hint more complexity and bite from the agricole

I really enjoy this rum. It is great on its own or in cocktails.

Nice marriage between wood and cane, fruits and oak.

Great stuff. Obviously not as good as the 15, but it’s pretty clear the barbancourt guys know what they’re doing.

Excellent on all fronts for sub $30. Bottled at 43% which makes it a great sipper. If I were to fault it I would say it's a bit generic and lacking a wow factor. But really it's far to good and enjoyable at it's price point to care about such a minor and petty thing.
It’s also an all around brown rum substitute. It can be perfectly used in any drink that calls out for brown rum.

Really nice rum. Not particulary floral despite its origin. Vanilla, caramel and woody to the taste. Easy to drink. Works neat but also great in a cocktail as an alternative to a full blown Agricole.

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.

Pleasant aroma. Smooth taste with no added annoying sweetnes. Balanced tones of smokey oak

In a good way.

Definite quality rum. It's great on the rocks - you can sip it also. i want to buy another bottle; it is a bit pricey coming from Haiti.