La Favorite Privilège

Here is a family distillery that is making a lot of noise at the moment and which has just released some highly anticipated new products. I invite you to discover La Favorite in more detail by reading the very nice article by Jean-Pierre Gitany on his blog Persil et Oignon Pays .

Today we will talk about their 'Privilège' vintage, a blend of rums "30 and 36 years old" according to their website, but whose label does not mention any age count.

To go further, we invite you to read the articles which deal with the proven sweetening of this vintage.

Price : bought for 174€, the rum currently sells for between 195 and 210€, but know that if you happen to visit the distillery you will then have the privilege of finding it for a little over a hundred euros… 70cl and 40° for this bottle entirely bottled, labeled and waxed by hand. Production is limited and numbered to 2,000 bottles per year.

Age : blend of 30 and 36 year old rums? hard to believe, and the label won't tell us more (no mention of age on it); aged in second-hand Cognac barrels.

The color of this rum is very impressive , heavy and of a dark mahogany tending towards the precious ruby. very dark… the atmosphere is changing above the glass and the irremediable and shivering impression of being above a nectar rather than a pure juice. A network of thick and equally impressive tears impregnates the walls of my glass and seems to want to attack the material.

The nose is ample and concentrated but impressively soft, and seems to stick in situ to each new inspiration, warm as one can imagine, perhaps too much even . Black fruit in abundance (prune), dried (raisin, date, fig), candied and roasted, vanilla that seems to float above the glass and spices so sweet and melted, and above all warm, that the next moment you are transported to your childhood in front of a steaming gingerbread fresh out of the oven. The whole nose is guided by these sweet and warm memories, like a guiding line that does not change its cape at any time, faithful to its line in front of an almost perfect copy. Roasted notes appear, black notes of liquorice but always finely delivered, melted and all in suppleness.

We would – at this precise moment – ​​dream of more strength (and therefore more than 40°) to see all these aromas burst forth. This would undoubtedly give the rum a completely different dimension that at this final moment I dare not even imagine…

With more rest we find candied black cherry (that of the Black Forest) which gives the nose a very pleasant and round fruity and sweet side. The nose would not have been complete without this gourmet touch, just as the fine lace clouds in a pure sky are so many additional reverie to a bucolic day. Contemplation, no more, no less. A sort of oasis in the desert, a mirage at the fateful moment of a final march.

On the palate, the impression is of an incredible softness and an impressive suppleness . Even the woodiness, although tested for supposedly thirty years, is floating, supple and light as a feather. The palate is slightly tannic but very syrupy, with this impression of drinking an arranged rum (infused?) rather than something else; Everything is still as melted and caramelized, we easily recognize the vanilla and spices, still as sweet, and the liquorice which gives a light hold.

The aging in cognac casks must be partly responsible for all this roundness and its fine, delicate and supple features; here again, I can't help but think that a little more power would have been very favorable to this vintage. But the desired goal is clearly not there: we are dealing here with a luxurious and syrupy spirit, made under the sign of sweetness, a perfect digestif for those who can afford it, and like sweet rums.

The little 40° shows its limits and the tasting seems at this moment as if suspended. As if arrived at the moment of the intrigue, a book was taken from your hands, violently and for no apparent reason…

The finish is inevitably biased, moderately long and still warm and benevolent with a little more liquorice and spices; the tannins are more present too but still restrained and well accompanied by this ever-present fruitiness. Very nice persistence which leaves a very pleasant and fruitier aftertaste to finish on a very nice note.

The rum seems to be going crescendo, giving its body and soul from the start and showing some signs of fatigue towards the end, a little out of breath from a long-distance race. Where most expect it, for a beautiful finale, it is effective and does its job, but something is missing to mark the moment.

A very concentrated, surprising dress, a warm and ample nose very melted on the aromas (spices, fruits, vanilla) and which recalls an old reassuring and nice friend, followed by a hyper soft mouth and always so warm and melted but which gives way to a rather simple exit, even if it leaves a delicious trace of its passage. The rum is in any case very homogeneous from beginning to end.

For my part, I would like that little something extra that, at the end, makes the eyes sparkle, but the 40° really hurts, as if the rum had left something there . It's good, I won't say otherwise, but the tasting clearly increases and we end up a little hungry. It's true that my expectations were quite high for this rum and that necessarily played a role in my final judgment...

Or else it makes you dream and imagine a rum that is stronger and that lets the barrel speak more, that tells us in a more authentic way this story so close and personal, between its container and its contents. One day perhaps? Note: 80

To go further, we invite you to read our articles on the hors d'age rums of La Favorite (in the section of the same name) concerning the addition of sugar. Franck Dormoy, from the La Favorite distillery, tells us that this rum is in fact... an arranged rum, made from a maceration of candied fruits and spices...

And in a video (click here to view) from 2010 on Dugas' YouTube channel (around 2 minutes), Paul Dormoy of the La Favorite distillery states (concerning the Flibuste and Privilège vintages) that "there is a mixture of a little bit of cognac and a lot of rum" .

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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