Reimonenq 2004 & 2009

The Reimonenq distillery is finally represented on this site, and it was about time... And there is a lot to say, starting with the fact that it distills one of the most atypical rums of the French Overseas Territories, rich and complex, and which certainly makes you travel, even a few thousand km away... Fruity, vegetal, spicy, mineral notes, it is a 360° tour that this distillery offers us, always watched out of the corner of his eye by Léopold... for almost 6 decades, courageously helped by his daughters.

It would probably be more interesting to start with the official bottlings and take a look at them, but while I wait to get them all, we will start with two bottles released by the Italian bottler Rum Nation. It was during a trip to Guadeloupe in 2007 that Fabio Rossi decided to buy a few barrels and he began to release several vintages, all aged and bottled on site (you will find the complete list on the excellent website Référence Rhum ). Today we will focus on two of them, released in 2014: a 10-year-old 2004, and a 5-year-old 2009, both bottled at 40°.

As for the distillery itself, let us point out that the distillation is carried out using a unique double column with four functions, made by Léopold himself with the expertise of engineer Pierre-Olivier Cogat: a Creole column equipped with valve trays coupled with a degassing column.

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Inimitable Reimonenq

No idea of ​​prices or how to get these two rums (and other Rum Nation releases), I've only had samples to date, and am still looking for a way to get some. Surely reserved for the Italian wine market?

Age : 5 years for this rum, distilled in 2009 and aged entirely on site at the Reimonenq distillery. It was bottled in 2014 at 40°.

This Reimonenq 2009 has an old gold color, tending towards greenish , very classy and precious, topped with an always reassuring disc.

On the nose, it is Reimonenq in all its splendor, with a very aromatic nose and recognizable at first whiff, a real personality.
We are in excess, with lots of vegetal, fruity, mineral and spicy notes, an aromatic tour de force, rich and complex . Exotic fruits passed (banana) and vanilla, milk jam, citrus zest, prunes and candied cherries, a smoky smell sometimes caramelized, sometimes chocolatey, very gourmet and caressed by a freshly bloomed rose.

Add to that refreshing vegetal notes (aromatic herbs, fresh liquorice) that seduce you and make you travel anywhere, as long as there is sun. A nose full of delicacy, a lush and enchanting nose.

The spices (cinnamon, cloves, anise) are melted into this whole that almost sticks to the nostrils and stings you slightly. The rest, itself, overwhelms you with red fruits (strawberries), grenadine, and each minute of waiting will bring its share of surprises: the nose evolves and passes from one aroma to another with extreme ease, always with this impression of fondue, of concentrated nectar, sometimes light as a perfume sometimes gourmand like a caramelized fruit tart.

The attack is fat and oily, on sweetness, sugar, candied fruits, notes of rose, vanilla, liquorice . A kind of liqueur but without the heaviness: the fresh cane and all the vegetal notes watch over the grain and support the mouth, preventing it from falling into the easy way out. We have the impression of drinking a kind of sap, a mixture of herbs, caramelized and spicy, woody, mentholated, for always a little more structure. A mouth that perpetuates the journey mentioned earlier, in a luxuriant richness.

The finish is long and persistent and still very rich : anise, mint, cinnamon, more pronounced notes of oak and spices that give it tone; the rum is young after all, we would have almost forgotten it... it comes back to the candied (black fruits, prunes, cherry), and we are still on the sweet side with a floral note of rose at the end of the mouth, very pleasant.

The empty glass swears by red fruit… strawberry, pomegranate, in the form of candy. Abandoned to their fate until the next day, they will still be in the glass, with a smell of strawberry and raspberry candy.

Once again a tour de force from Reimonenq. We are on a rum of 5 short years and yet we would swear a rum of double, so much does it offer a rich and concentrated aromatic palette, from the nose to the mouth…and all that with 40 small degrees. What more could you ask for? Certainly that it lasts, and for a long time to come, with the same sincerity and personality. Reimonenq is unique in the world of agricultural rum, some will love it and others will hate it, but it will never leave you indifferent. Note: 82

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Mature Version

Age : 10 years for this rum, distilled in 2004, aged 10 years at the Reimonenq distillery and bottled at 40°.

The color of this vintage is more intense, rather mahogany. The rum is also fatter and more imposing, with always this disc on the surface; 10 years is not nothing, and it shows…

The nose is even more on the candied, but less exuberant than the previous rum, more controlled and complex . Everything is melted with the oak (smoked, braised?); the magic in the barrel has worked and it can be felt! The years have released the aromas trapped in the wood, and mixed them in a rum that already enjoys a certain aromatic richness. The oak has the very good idea of ​​putting order, organizing and 'taming' the most fiery aromas.

Vegetal and fresh notes (green herbs) enhance the nose, licorice (zan) seems to calm the ardor of possible crazy fruits. The nose is more piquant and lively, more tannic and spicy (mint, cinnamon, clove, pepper), but always well controlled. The rest even brings notes of hydrocarbon (when I tell you that it has all this rum).

The mouth is once again fat and syrupy, more tonic than the previous rum . On the candied (sweet), the spices (hot) mixed with a woody note that becomes smoky (tobacco) and even peaty; the spices are a little more talked about, more peppery now, and even spicy. And always these fresh herbs, mint, liquorice and iodine for a very complete and complex mouth.

Once more, it is long and notes of tar and tobacco lead the dance until the last drop ; beautiful persistence on the zan for a taste that remains very long in the mouth, impressive. The tannins are surely a little too present, but attenuated by a minty freshness and the candied fruit which return and will be your friends for life (in any case until the new tasting).

An intense and impressively rich rum, to which the years have given more structure, more hold. This smoky woodiness and the tobacco notes blend very well with the candied fruits, which still come back in the end, tenacious and gourmet; with again and again this mix of vegetal notes, which deliver a unique moment with each tasting. Note: 86

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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