The Brotherhood of Rum is a Facebook group that is surely not unknown to you, and which will have gone in a few years from a place of human size promoting a serene exchange, meetings and knowledge, to a gondola head of a hypermarket. Force or constraint of the growing number of avatars, the most powerful social network in the world is also the most chaotic and the most impersonal, transforming the least successful group into an enticing showcase, insidiously favoring form over substance, quantity over quality, and fatally dehumanizing the ranks. However, a host of other generalist or more specialized groups will result from it, and also more disinterested ( the community of agricultural rum , collector rum , and many regional and even national Rhum Clubs: Rhum Club Martinique , Guadeloupe , Belgium Rhum Club , ..).

The number will have allowed the CDR to break out of its virtual straitjacket in a very nice way (and in any case intelligently) by offering since 2015 bottlings in fairly limited quantities; and while the first tests (we remember a rum from Barbados and Guadeloupe) were ordinary and impersonal (because selected like everyone else from the same supplier), the latest releases are the fruit of privileged partnerships between the managers of the CDR on one side, and agricultural distilleries on the other (let us mention Longueteau, La Favorite and HSE). Unique productions therefore, and which largely depart from the usual and far too boring consortium which sees the vast majority of independent bottlers release exactly the same products (where only the degree changes by an iota for the form). The opportunity to take an interest in the two most recent ones from the Simon distillery and more particularly from the HSE brand.

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HSE 2007 / 52,2°

Selected in partnership with the CDR, this is the first "brut de fût" released by HSE: the white rum initially barreled underwent a slight reduction (around 60°) before aging in July 2007; it will be bottled (and therefore not reduced after removal from the barrel) on February 5, 2016, after a little less than 9 years in 52.2% French oak barrels. 800 50cl copies were released the same year.

Beautiful coppery color with bronze highlights, very oily and revealing beautiful, greedy, graceful and suspended legs. A disc on the surface even gives it a certain assurance.
On the nose, the rum delivers a beautiful empyreumatic profile: fairly dry and woody toasted notes, vanilla, but also exotic, with cooked and candied fruit, apricot, orangette and raisin. Classy and elegant, with a beautiful personality and a beautiful presence. A rum that comforts and inspires confidence.

Resting brings notes of tobacco and coffee in a warm and powerful atmosphere, almost varnished with a present and incisive alcohol, and a rough side (which catches), with a tangy tendency (red fruit, redcurrant). Waiting longer will not really tend to reduce the alcohol, blocking the nose a little, and transforming the frugal and exotic notes into fruit paste.

On the palate, the attack is soft, slightly oily, frank and tangy: the rum becomes tannic, dry and powerful, with slightly bitter and woody notes that mix with candied citrus fruits and tangy, peppery berries; it evolves in a rather chaotic and disordered way but it has its effect, without crossing the red line, but flirting with it. We find the 'catchy' and tannic side with a beautiful presence on the palate.

Beyond that, we find tobacco, in a mouth that seems quite young and lively in the end, crazy, but also animal and iodized, but without the wisdom and richness (let's say the complexity and especially the balance) that we expect from a cask strength that has aged so many years (what's more in Martinique). This gives the impression of lacking depth, control, to the detriment of acidic notes and bitterness that is rather well controlled but tiring. The finish is moderately long, dry, woody and acidic, and echoes the mouth, punchy and lively, excited and vibrant, reminiscent of a handful of tangy redcurrants bitten into in the middle of summer. The empty glass is reminiscent of redcurrant jelly.

A rum full of promise on paper, and with an equally promising nose, but the palate does not really give the impression of a rum as old and cask strength, or is it a question of dilution before aging? Nice but lacks balance and accuracy. Score: 83

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HSE 2007 / 51,9°

2nd try and still a 2007 vintage, this time aged on February 27, 2007 in unheated French oak barrels. The tasting will be done independently of the first batch as there is no longer enough rum to make a direct comparison.

The dress is bright, an orange amber as if the sun was reflected in the glass; the legs are greedy and tanned.
On the nose the smell is exquisite and very chic, refined, combining juicy and sunny citrus fruits (apricot compote, orange) draped in a thin film of leather, perfumed with caramelized fruits (banana) and aromas of pastries. It is very delicate, bewitching with a hint of freshness and exotic spontaneity (pineapple).

The alcohol appears lively and pungent on occasion and dries the nose, until the rest makes the rum waver towards a more serious profile, more monolithic with a dry woodiness (clove, cinnamon), leaving aside the delicacy in favor of sour notes with a woodiness reminiscent of furniture polish; this smell seems to take over, breaking the magic of the beginning despite the consoling presence of a mature exoticism and tobacco, chocolate. We thus go from a very flattering first nose to more softness with rest (too much?), and we would dream of more depth and length.

On the palate, the attack is mellow and concentrated, warm, and the rum quickly takes over the palate and exhales its aromas in a very beautiful profusion, all in generosity: liquorice, leather, tobacco, without forgetting fresh herbs and a fruity as if smoky but sweet (a braised compote). On the spice side, we find the clove and pepper which both increase in power until taking up all the space in the mouth and which dry it out a little more in an alcohol that is always present. The finish is moderately long and quite dry, on roasted notes (tobacco, chocolate), citrus fruits and a damp woodiness, on alcohol vapors. The empty glass returns to much more pleasant notes of spices and tobacco, and we are well again.

A selection clearly better than the previous one with this roundness in the mouth that was missing from the first opus; it makes a clear difference and this time the nose is in osmosis with the mouth. It would however deserve more length and control on the end because it seems to die out too quickly (on the nose with the rest and on the finish). Note: 86

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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