Rhum Barbancourt Three Star Four Year Old

Rhum Barbancourt has been produced by the Gardere family for 160 years at the distillery located on the outskirts of Port Au Prince, Haiti.  The company harvests sugarcane around their property and ferment fresh pressed sugarcane juice to produce their products and distill the liquid using a combination of copper pot stills or column stills.   This product was aged for four years in Limousin oak and then blended to 43% ABV and bottled at the distillery. 

                 Appearance 

The 750 ml brown tinted bottle has some custom embossing with the number 1862 above the front label and Rhum Barbancourt embossed around the bottom.  A security wrap with an easy pull tab secures the wood capped synthetic cork to the bottle.   The rum holds a medium amber color in the bottle and lightens significantly in the glass presenting a golden straw color.  Swirling the liquid creates a thin band that thickens and releases a single wave of slow-moving tears before evaporating. 

                   Nose 

The aroma of the rum leads with a strong vanilla note, followed by oaky wood spices with a pop of black pepper. 

                  Palate 

The first sip delivers a swirl of vanilla and alcohol conditioning the mouth.  Additional sips present a lot of oak tannins, a grassy astringency, and a hard pop of pepper right before a long smoky finish. 

                  Review 

One of the things I have always enjoyed about Rhum Barbancourt products is the way the aroma and flavors transport me back in time to when I had the pleasure of visiting the historic Maison Fondee estate. Unfortunately, for the first time with one of their products, this did not happen.  I had been told that the rum is excellent to cook with and to use as a core cocktail ingredient, but it completely lacks any of the aroma and flavor markers that I attribute to the Rhum Barbancourt brand and basically could be any minimally aged rum produced on Hispaniola.  The price range of the product is in line with those brands, but if you want a product with more of the Barbancourt signature profile I would recommend going with the Blanc, 8, or 15 year old products instead.