Papalin Reunion 10 Year Old Vatted Rum (700ml)

After a release dedicated to Jamaica, the spotlight shifts to France's Reunion Island, located east of Madagascar. Here we have an intriguing blend of pot-distilled molasses-based rums from four different distilleries. It equates to a total of 32 casks (including ex-cognac, ex-bourbon and ex-whisky), all entirely aged in their respective distillery warehouses in a tropical climate. Rums up to 15 years old are in the mix, but at its heart is an 11 year old 'Grande Arome' - the French Caribbean equivalent of a high ester Jamaican. We're told this should please fans of Savanna or light Grand Arome funk who want a dry, naturally unsweetened sipper. Bottled November 2023. 50% Alc./Vol.

Other reviews... On the nose, medicinal notes like glue, esters, oak, roasted wood notes, sweet, flowery molasses with honey and fermented, almost rotten, pungent tropical fruits, strawberries, vegetal notes, bump into our nostrils. On aeration, roastedness is strong with smokiness, leather, cinammon arises, some citrus fruits. On the palate, the attack is strong, pungent with overripe, fermented red and citrus fruits, hints if sugarcane, honey, vegetal molasses that on oxidation goes grassy, herbaceous, flowery, even dark with black tea, the wood is roasted/toasted, sweet with pastry, caramel, leather, spicy with cinnamon, nutmeg, salty. The finish is long, furry and tannic, with tons of fermented fruits, vegetal notes, smoky and spicy roasted wood, grassy and sweet molasses with honey. - rumratings.com