HSE for Habitation Saint Etienne which finds its roots in the 1800s before being given these 3 letters in the 90s, a sign of a renaissance that still today pushes agricultural rum beyond borders (and my little finger tells me that this is only the beginning). A nice historical nod when you know that this acronym was originally used to mark barrels...

The rum is now produced in the same distillery as Clément (the cane juice used is the same but the distillation differs).

Price : around €80 but the trend is upwards (up to €140) given the rarity of the rum. Capacity of 70cl (available in 50cl bottles) and 47.8° on the meter (cask strength).

Age : AOC rum distilled and aged in 1998 in cognac barrels for 10 years. Vintage limited to 600 bottles, from a single barrel.

Like a herd of wild horses, HSE has established itself by offering an impressive number of rums, from the most classic to vintages, including a wide range of finishes, all praised by the most demanding amateurs. So there is plenty of choice, with at the top of the list an inaccessible hors d'âge (and price) from 1960...

HSE continues on its merry way and innovates by giving agricultural rum a new boost (not without recalling the Scots of Renegade, only on the idea I assure you). Among the 'world finishes': 2 single Malt finishes (Islay and Highland), 2 Sherry finishes (Olorosso and Pedro Ximénez), and a Sauternes finish 'Château La tour Blanche'. finishes from 6 months to more than a year for certain products. But enough blah blah, let's move on to tasting the 1998 vintage, aged in cognac barrels (excuse me for saying so)...

The curtain rises on an amber dress with mahogany highlights, worn by a princess wearing a majestic crown set with precious stones , and beautiful slender legs that take a long time to touch the ground, as if suspended in the air by an invisible dancer. She dances and she does it well, delivering with each of her steps a sweet perfume that already intoxicates the audience. A very beautiful entrance on stage for a show that promises to be absolutely beautiful…

A warm and inviting mood invades the space, the patterns of the decor, this evening, represent fruits, present even on the dress of our host ; the lady has experience and greedy eyes… and exoticism too, deliciously mixing classic (prune) with more modern notes of apricot, mango and quince. Maturity in the gestures, ample and always generous, and an appetizing roundness worthy of a great cognac.

The show is already well underway and cocoa scents invade the room, or maybe it's the bodies that are already warming up, so early? so far from the goal? sweet spices tickle the senses and a light woody, seductive and restrained, settles us even more comfortably in this armchair. Far from the cardboard cinema seats, we are at the theater ladies and gentlemen! We are good...we watch, we let ourselves be carried away by the music and we wait for the next step, the next flight of this dancer, confident and radiant. And as the minutes pass, the intensity increases: cloves, cinnamon, sweet and sun-drenched ripe fruits, sparks... sweet smell of caramel, sweetness, certain... one gesture after another, with class and professionalism, madam, this evening, shines... Maybe tomorrow her performance will be less good, but tonight she shines and she knows how to prolong the pleasure, with the extreme humility that only an agricultural world can deliver.

The view - just like the nose of a tasting - transports you and makes you appreciate 3/4 of a performance (whether it is a show, a play, etc.). You know that everything is there, and that the rest, even if important, is already far away and will be rather easily forgotten. A half-measure finale or a missed encore, nothing will take away the magic of the beginning, that's how the human brain works, for better and sometimes for worse... And that apprehension that is always present (and heavy) in the middle of a show, to imagine for a single second that the rest will be disappointing, and which spoils part of the pleasure, that damn brain again, a wire connected crookedly, perverse.

But let's not play the fatalists, let's stop for a moment to see and listen, touch... to realize that the story follows its course, without a hitch and always with this reassuring side, a story that has become soft just like the armchair, a moment ago, was comfortable. We don't lose the thread, we follow it, and this time we touch these fruits that we smelled, we are there: The passage to the act... the carnal moment, the meeting of Ariane so dreaded, soft and reassuring, confident, with melting lips, candied and finely caramelized. Carried away by this momentum we would almost fall to the ground, we would almost let go, prisoner.

But like any newly begun romance, lightning seizes souls and the current flows through your veins to the point of boiling your vicars. Tenderness burns in shreds and the animal brutally takes its place, the fruit barely touched falls from the tree pressed by a branch that has become a hand, rough and spicy, violent and insistent . A surge that would overturn any raft and leave only fragments of wood at sea, which will caramelize in the sun, even becoming liquorice black.

The moment is long and solemn, death is slow but so sweet , and delivers our two souls from a love that is too quick. Yet barely finished we would already like to start again…

This slow death, this outcome, only prolongs the feelings and we rewatch the show in fast motion but without missing the slightest detail. Again this damn brain that plays tricks and this selective memory that only keeps the best. Weak we are, human and mortal above all, for the best, and sometimes the worst…

Rating: 91

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.

From the folks behind DuRhum, Velier, and more, comes a premium online marketplace for rum enthusiasts by rum enthusiasts! Do check out www.rowspirits.fr for more great content and iconic rums!