Rhum Rhum is a rum “brand” we have covered before.  Rhum Rhum Liberation 2015 Version Integrale is a variation on  the 2012 iteration of this rhum.

I am using the term rhum (don’t be surprised if I lapse back into rum during the review) as this is another bottling from a French Speaking Caribbean island. Rum from cane juice rather than molasses.

Rhum Rhum hails from Marie Galante, Guadeloupe and it is the brainchild of Master Distiller Marie Capdevila and Velier’s Luca Gargano. The Rhum Rhum project is housed within the Bielle Distillery but is independent of it. The still used for these rhums was installed specifically for the use of Capdevila to produce these Rhum Rhum rhums. Apologies for over use of the word rhum. I blame the producers who named this…rhum.

Rhum Rhum Liberation 2015 Version Integrale is one of two releases of the same rum. The rum is also released minus the Version Integrale moniker. The Verison Integrale is the “uncut version” so it is released at Cask Strength. The other Rhum Rhum 2015 is released at 46% ABV. This is bottled at 58.4% ABV.

Rhum Rhum Liberation 2015 Version Integrale has been double distlled on bespoke Muller Copper Pot Stills. It is a cane juice rhum that has been aged for 6 years (the 2012 was aged for 5 years) in ex-Sauternes wine casks. The 2015 relates to the year the rum was “Liberated” from the barrel not the date it was distilled. Which was 2009. Should you still find a bottling of this rhum expect to pay around £140 or more if you are bidding at auction.

Presentation wise we get the usual opaque Velier bottle. The Rhum Rhum bottlings are designed to fit together to make a full “wildlife” picture. It depicts the kind of wildlife common on Marie Galante. I find it a bit odd to be honest but it is interesting.

In the glass Rhum Rhum 2015 Version Integrale is a dark brown with orange/red flashes. Nosing is an intense experience.

It is nicely spiced with a nice balance of oak and tannic red wine like notes. There is a very slight grassy and vegetal note in their. Some saltiness – a touch of brine. I’m getting some almost St Lucian like sappy notes of fir trees.

I’m also getting a lot of stoned fruits, slight touch of pineapple and a slight rubbery-ness which smells like a fresh elastic band or new trainers perhaps.

It’s a very interesting, intense and complex nose with a lot of layers to it. The tropical ageing gives it a real intensity that I think would be hard to replicate in another climate. It’s very unique.

Sipping Rhum Rum Liberation 2015 is an equally complex affair. Large amounts of spice and oak hit you immediately and the rhum has a very viscous feel – as if it is coating your tongues with so much intense flavour. Cherries, sultanas, port and sherry all held together by a very zesty and spicy mouthfeel. This is a rhum to take very small sips of and just let it build in your mouth. It is a very long and very complex rhum.

There is so much going on with this rhum in terms of flavour – chocolate, coffee, red grapes. There is a slight tartness to it verging on being bitter. It’s got a real cooking apple note going on with it or if you were ever daft enough to eat them – those small crab apples. Gooseberries? Yes maybe gooseberry.

The finish is long and spicy and fades out into a very tasty mix of ginger, vanilla and those strong red wine like notes. Maybe even a hint of mild curry powder

It is perhaps just a touch too busy to be a perfect rhum – maybe the tartness of the rhum could be toned down a bit. Water helped a little but it was still there.

The truth is there is so much going on with this rhum – much likes its 2012 brother that it’s a really hard rhum to pin down. It isn’t your typical aged Rhum Agricole. It has more of a molasses wine finish about it to be just that. It’s a complex and intriguing rhum. A rhum which is sure to really interest any serious enthusiast.