The name Albion alone will make many Demerara lovers salivate… this 1983 vintage is one of the rare Velier bottlings that displays a reasonable alcohol content (46.4°), making it a perfect gateway into the world of Pure Single Rum; a door that has unfortunately been closed for several years due to stock shortages.

Age : 25 years spent in the tropics for this rum distilled in 1983 and bottled by Luca Gargano in 2008 (313 bottles and not one more were marketed).

The task is not easy and it is not without a certain apprehension that I finally tackle this rum, which for me is a monument, nothing less (in the same way as the Skeldon 73 and 78). I tasted it for the first time a few years ago, and since the bottle was opened its smell has obsessed me. It's simple, even empty, the bottle continued to smell for weeks, letting out a heavy and rubbery smell, captivating and heady.

It is now almost impossible to find a bottle, the old bottlings from Velier being extremely rare, and the quantity being quite limited (313 copies in this specific case). And it is really a shame for all the amateurs who will pass by something grandiose. May this note at least have the 'merit' of praising the qualities of a rum that disappeared too quickly, and if you are given the opportunity to taste it, then may these few words make your mouth water, and push you - one day perhaps -to succumb to temptation...

This Albion 83 offers a very deep amber color, close to mahogany, and a green disc on the surface, characteristic of advanced age. What follows is a ballet of crocodile tears, which sadly and nonchalantly join the bottom of a lake that we already imagine to be marshy, but lulled by warm and humid air. This is not a simple rum, it is a dream, a raw journey, a one-way trip that we would like to have no return but that we already know is limited, and for many inaccessible.

An Albion nose? a heavy and rubbery profile, which would bewitch anyone, a profile so unique and so interesting that it does not let go of you : the molasses becomes tarry and heavy, as if the rum had been deliberately thrown on a tarmac road and left there for years, to burn under a blazing sun; one wonders if the angels - who necessarily have their share of responsibility - are not seasoned bikers, and do not ride Harleys.

But don't get me wrong, because even if the smell I'm describing doesn't sound very appetizing at first, it's a real pleasure to the nose because this smell of burnt plastic (or burning tire) settles in and sticks to you until it's obsessive. And even if it's very present, it also gives way to notes of old pipe tobacco, dried fruits (very black grapes macerated in this molasses), and much lighter and refreshing notes of exotic fruits and flowers. In short, a heavy and deep nose, thick and resinous that could almost be chewed, enhanced by a lighter and subtle tropical veil: an iron fist in a velvet glove...

On the palate, the attack is supple and slightly oily, marked first by the fruits with a very surprising and elegant tangy note , easily reminiscent of lemon, mixed with the sweetness of orange and a little something sweet/tart (candied zest, cranberries). In total contrast to the very heavy nose at the beginning, the entry in the mouth is very interesting and at the very least destabilizing.

This sweet/sour fruitiness gives way to heavier, more concentrated notes of rubber and licorice, punctuated by a bit of pepper and clove. Now it's the rubber's turn to mix with the acidity for a stunning, and even if different, result that fully lives up to the nose.

The finish is magnificently long, first on the fruity, which is gradually forgotten by notes of liquorice; we find in the mouth a resinous taste which even becomes smoky at the end. The whole remains long in the mouth for a tasting which continues to infinity. As we will have understood, the heavy side logically takes back its place as aromatic leader, but the warm and refreshing note of fruits makes this rum truly complex and well balanced.

But why isn't this type of rum more widely distributed? It would have the merit of laying things out flat and making it possible for as many people as possible to discover that rum is not limited to a name, a raw material, a flagship brand... but rather to ancestral know-how and unique stills.

Note: 92.5

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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