Barbancourt 5 Star Reserve Especiale 8-Year

I would say this is more a mixer than a sipping rum

A bit too much oak for my taste

This is one of my favorite mixers for a rum and coke with mexican coke. Biggest its a dryer rum it goes extremely well with the real sugar in mexican coke. It also has a nice complex flavor that comes with an aged rum. Good for the price

Good. Yet too much of an alcool burn. Not as sweet and vanilla as I like. Missing some molasses and such.

Цвет - Тёмный янтарь.

Аромат - Сдержанный, влажный, травянисто-тростниковый, слегка спиртуозный, зелёные бананы, шоколад.

Вкус - Маслянистый, слегка водянистый, тростник, шоколад, какой-то усреднённый - по сладости, пряности, мощности, всего понемногу и ничего в итоге, no guts, как говорят наши англоговорящие коллеги.

Послевкусие - С этим вообще плохо, слабое, быстро угасающее, одномерное, тростниково-травяное.

Вывод - Ни рыба ни мясо, не коктейльный, конечно вариант, кола здесь не потребуется, но какой-то особой радости тоже нет от этого рома.

Оценка - 5/10

Nose was funky, the initial scent was actually not very pleasant and did nothing to help the first sip. This rum has a very light taste, almost sweet, without any body, Not a sipper, just ok as a mixer but will probably be okay as a blender. I liked it but there are better options out there in my opinion.

Not a sweet rum. Strong kick. Good taste for sipping. Nice aroma and color as well.

Skvelý agricole rum z Haity za výbornú cenu, vo vôni trocha trávy, či dubového dreva, jemný.

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.

Not a Grest aroma.The flavour Is compsed by dry fruit and a Little bit of vanilla but the alcool is very dominant.

I don't know if I am being fair with this review since I didn't get a chance to truly appreciate it by itself! I was drinking it along with beer and food, so It was not the main experience. I remember it being very good for the price though, and I would love to try other older Barbancourts!