Back to Bielle, with a vintage selected by LMDW, in a 45° version (from a blend of 8 barrels) and a Single Cask brut de fût version. 14 years on the clock, and a very bielle way to end the week, while waiting to come across other versions of this vintage rum.

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Bielle 2001 / 45°

From a blend of 8 barrels (ex bourbon barrels) aged for 14 years; a limited series (small batch) of 655 bottles, bottled for LMDW (La Maison du Whisky) .

A brilliant rum, with a deep amber color, with copper highlights. The color appears oily, dotted with numerous droplets giving way to fine and nonchalant legs. On the nose, it is opulent, on a candied and roasted fruitiness, and warmly spicy (clove). The nose is grilled and heady, on apricot (caramelized and grilled), very ripe papaya, chocolate. The rest reinforces a little more this feeling of empyreumia, with dried fruits, and a liquorice woodiness, in a beautiful balance; it is harmonious and nothing takes over, and the rest promises to be exquisite.

On the palate, the attack is soft and initially fruity: apricot, peach; it is light and very expressive, and exotic; the spices now encompass the fruits and the woodiness appears, grilled, then the liquorice, and an iodized side that excites the taste buds: sometimes sweet sometimes tangy, citrus fruits dance with the cocoa, with a proud and straight woodiness in the background. The oak is quite present for a tannic and liquorice mouth. The finish is long and just as warm, always bathed in liquorice and oak, and even jammy at the end (passed fruits). This taste will remain for a long time, and even the empty glass has the luxury of shining (zan).

Very nice expression of Bielle, with a loaded nose, well balanced and exotic. The mouth appears perhaps too woody, but the whole is coherent and rather well orchestrated. Too bad the price is excessive. Note: 84

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Bielle 2001 / 53,1°

This rum, unlike the one above, comes from a single cask (single cask #4), selected once again by LMDW and bottled at the natural strength of 53.1° at 244 copies. It is also 14 years old (distilled in March 2001, bottled in July 2015) and has aged in ex-Bourbon casks; it is in fact the first single cask in a series of 12 casks.

The color is this time darker, more concentrated we would say, but even brighter, with a beautiful green disk on the surface, thick and synonymous with maturity. The rum offers a sustained golden amber, and a very fat color, where the legs are in excess and so thick that they flood the walls of the glass.

On the nose, we are still on a roasted and slightly less exotic profile; the fruits are this time past, with a heavier and even more opulent smell, where papaya and mango are close to rotting. It is less airy and exotic than the 45° version, but more complex, more closed too. Rest is essential, but even after long minutes, the profile does not really change. We are on a melted whole that appears thick, heavy; notes of mocha intensify, and chocolate, spices (clove), a dry woodiness arrive, and again and again these heavy and broken fruits, as if fallen on the ground and exploded, but which now pass into the background.

On the palate, the rum is thick, fat and necessarily concentrated, and very warm. We find the candied fruits already present on the nose, and a fairly substantial dose of liquorice and oak. In a melted, resinous whole, the 53° bring all their strength and concentration. Always this sweet/salty effect that exalts the senses, and a smoky (tobacco) and tarry side that is quite classy. Everything blends in a beautiful harmony for a real fireworks display on the palate. The finish is excessively long, on liquorice and toasted notes (spices, dried fruits), tobacco, with a return at the very end of these mature fruits, as if to recall one last time the opulence of this rum.

A cask strength version that makes all the difference and explodes in the mouth, with a very well-melted concentration, always harmonious, and which despite a strong presence of wood and liquorice, is of the most beautiful effect. Everything is well integrated and concentrated. Perhaps too woody that said. Note: 87

Two complementary rums: the first more exotic and airy, gourmand; the second, heavier and concentrated. The price is still out of the ordinary, and one wonders if Bielle's goal is clearly not to turn its back on amateurs (the basis of their success and their reputation), to position itself towards a high-end sector, more oriented towards export? Too bad, but there are much better things for a much lower price.

To help you (and me) find your way around, regarding the notes:

90 and + : exceptional and unique rum, it is the best of the best
between 85 and 89 : highly recommended rum, with that little something that makes the difference
between 80 and 84 : recommendable rum
75-79 POINTS : above average
70-74 POINTS : in the low average
less than 70 : not very good

Review courtesy of DuRhum.com.

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