After the 1998 vintage released last year, which resurrected Bally by offering one of the finest discoveries of 2016 (and the brand's first historic cask strength), 2017 marks the arrival of its successor, the 1999. Same recipe with a rum offered at natural strength and which has undergone neither reduction nor topping up; aged at 62.1%, it will have lost very little alcohol during its 17 years of aging...

To rinse your palate, we suggest you (re)immerse yourself in the historical side and relive the Bally saga via this page .

J. Bally 1999 / 54,5°

Over 17 years old and offered at a natural strength of 54.5°. A limited edition of 948 pyramid bottles, released by LMDW for its 'Cellar Book' collection. According to the brand, 1999 was a particularly dry year, giving this rum a rather unusual profile.

The color of this vintage rum is mahogany, drawing on the dark side of the force, oily, fatty and bubbly.
Armored senile papaya, withered mango on its bed of undergrowth, roasted mushroom and morello cherry from the black forests: this rum offers a nose that is at the very least atypical, mixing an exoticism from the beyond (papaya version walking dead) and notes of old faded leather jackets, dried fruits from the sec and a stick of liquorice delighted and trained as never before.

Candied fruits teem, sweet and dark (prune, grape), dive towards the syrup (grenadine), the custard and here the roasted notes consolidate with the wait. Harlequin candy? Williams pear (bruised to the core) on its chocolate coulis and sprinkled with nuts; it's all jostling on this nose! Very dry and very roasted, and dark, in chocolate, hazelnut and spread mode. The 1998 would even seem quite timid next to it...

The attack is powerful and explosive, virile and corrosive, what am I saying, orgasmic… oily and hot like a still smoking ember, round like the cylindrical bottom of a cold cigarette, the fruits melt like snow in the sun and ooze sugar and spices. The leather clings to your palate and shrinks until it coats each mucous membrane, passionately, and works on your body, ardently. A rum that sticks you, caresses you and slaps you at the same time. A hit of tannin, does that appeal to you? No? Even if you are promised a fruity ointment to heal the smoking wounds? Really? The mouth is like the nose, dry and toasted with a large part made of fruits, dried of course, but also shelled to cushion the shock (walnuts). Would you like another small piece of chocolate with your coffee? A morello cherry on the corner of the nose? The end of the meal may have seemed heavy and not very digestible, but on the contrary, we are overcome by a feeling of lightness, ready to run for mushrooms in the forest and even to face the rain, dressed in leather and invigorated by a waterproof palate.

The Bally 98 already offered this kind of mind-blowing experience (which we will call the true experience of cask strength, without topping up or reduction), the 99 shakes up the codes a little more and even offers a powerful and succulent mouth, candied and persistent. After the 98 and the 99, we are definitely waiting for the 2000! Note: 92

Comparing it with the 98 is a waste of time, too different, but equally excellent; it will therefore be a matter of taste, and a matter of time.

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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