The smallest distillery in Martinique, Neisson positions itself as the guardian of the tradition of agricultural rum, and at its side the notion of terroir has never been so justified. A distillery - and a production - on a human scale where agriculture and the manufacture of cane are at the heart of everything...

Price : €550 for a bottle from a single barrel, selected in partnership by LMDW and Velier. 70cl and 48°. limited to 290 bottles.

Age : 19 years, and something rather rare and very appreciable, the bottles of Neisson are teeming with information, see rather: harvest and distillation in March 1995 / aging on June 12, 1995 / removal from barrel on July 24, 2014 and bottling July 28, 2014. A model of its kind.

1995, a symbolic date in more ways than one for the Neisson family… Distilled in March 1995, a few months before Dr. Claudine Neisson-Vernant arrived at the distillery to take over from her aunt, usufructuary of the Neisson estate, who had just passed away. The time for the succession had come, and this 1995 vintage marked the beginning of a second life, a second bet on the future for Claudine, but also for her son Grégory. A story that has lasted for more than 20 years.

Neisson is a Lilliputian in the world of agricultural rum, and even more so in the world of rum in general: while agricultural rum production barely accounts for 2% on a global scale, Neisson produces less than 2%...on the scale of Martinique), with this unique and salutary desire to remain on a human scale, and to constantly seek excellence. Tasting of the 1995 vintage for the greatest pleasure of amateurs...

This Neisson 95 offers us a precious, gold-colored dress, and quickly a very fine crown appears and the rest is just poetry : tiny drops form gently and seem to fall in slow motion on a benevolent and shiny disc, a carpet to cushion time. The color is brilliant and leaves no room for doubt: authenticity.

The nose of this rum is so deep that one would give it eternity at the first whiff . All the aromas seem literally melted into a woody note so precious (crystalline liquorice) and fine that it magnificently highlights the rest. The 48° goes unnoticed, as if it were no longer a question of alcohol but of a dream. Add to that the complexity of the greatest rums, and one immediately senses that one is faced with a Grand rhum, and no doubt is then possible.

Dried fruits (raisins, dates, figs), walnuts, lightly toasted coconut, the nose is incredibly fine, and has the luxury of evoking a certain gourmandise: with white-fleshed fruits full of sugar and sun, marzipan, and toasted and sunny notes (cocoa) that assert themselves a little more when left to rest. This nose is incredibly accurate. Gourmet, fruity and empyreumatic, and superbly balanced.

The attack is soft and creamy, with fine notes of wood that becomes smoky, liquorice, everything seems delicately grilled, sweet, tangy, smoky; the palate evokes sometimes fruits (exotic, citrus, zest and juice), sometimes the vegetable and its freshly pressed cane, always with omnipresent grilled notes as a conductor. A valiant and seductive mouth, which caresses your senses, and your palate.

And this Neisson offers us a very long finish, always and again on this liquorice and this smokiness (tobacco), accompanied by citrus fruits. Serious and greedy, straight and with a flowing heart, this rum lacks nothing, and the empty glass even allows itself the luxury of offering yet another journey, to the land of real rum, a journey that lasts and that we would like to be eternal.

Tasting Neisson rums is always an experience in itself, a sort of invigorating and exhilarating return to the source. And even if the price of this vintage will surely put off more than one, I can't help but advise anyone to give in to just one sip. There is a lot of work - and surely also a good dose of love - behind this kind of rum... liquid gold.
Rating: 94



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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