La Mauny, a still-smoking distillery, produces several brands within its facilities: the wine obtained after fermentation is used for La Mauny, but also for Trois Rivières and Duquesne. Only the distillation differs: La Mauny uses two 'Maresté' columns (built in 84 and 96), and another more modern 'Interunion' column with 26 trays dating from 2004, capable of producing 1,000 liters/hour (i.e. double the Maresté columns). The rum will come out at 70° and with 300g/hl of non-alcoholic elements.

Trois Rivières is distilled in a Savalle column (22 trays, original column), and Duquesne is prepared in a Brument column (92). Another particularity: La Mauny would be aged in French oak barrels, and Trois Rivières in Bourbon barrels (source: Atlas du Rhum / Luca Gargano).

Many packaging changes for this house, and many developments over time to once again offer new bottles and labels this year. Even some vintages - like the 1979 - are no exception to the rule with 3 different containers . A house that is restless: bought by Quartier Français in 2007, the BBS Group (created after 69, and at the origin of the modernization of the La Mauny distillery) was then bought in 2011 by La Martiniquaise, which in turn sold it, in 2012, to the Chevrillon group.

Other tastings will follow, but today we are focusing on the brand's emblematic vintage, 1979, as well as the very latest bottling, a certain Cuvée Nouveau Monde.

Cuvée Nouveau Monde / 41°

La Mauny has already given us an old, hors d'âge rum, "Cuvée du Nouveau Monde", also a limited series, bottled in 1992 to commemorate the half-millennium of the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus (1492). In 2015, La Mauny released another cuvée, also hors d'âge, a sort of new nouveau monde, with no apparent link and bottled this time at 41° (compared to 43). It is a multi-cuvée multi-vintage blend ("12 cuvées from four rare vintages"). Why mix rare vintages, no idea... but the brand gives the beginning of an answer in its advertising: "a free and very personal creation of the Cellar Master".

The Rubis and Saphir carafes are also blends of several vintages and it must be said that it is rather successful. From there to knowing the vintages used, we would like to know (a bit like Saint-James and its 250 year old Carafe), knowing that the vintage rums of La Mauny are quite rare.

The color of this rum is a beautiful amber with copper highlights, the tears are moderate and the rum appears reassuring and elegant.
On the nose, beautiful roasted (and chocolatey) notes emerge, candied fruits (apricot) and even caramelized, deliciously spicy (cinnamon). It is gourmet and classy at the same time, delicate and with a slight 'spicy' and coppery side. Beautiful balance of flavors and rather complex. With rest, a toasted woodiness clearly emerges, caressed by the roundness of the fruits. It is a success, and we could stay there for hours.

On the palate, the attack is "very soft" and rather simple; it is like acidulous, and immediately quite spicy and woody. There is a nice presence of tobacco, with a tannic bitterness that emerges, as well as grilled spices (peppery), for a mouth that is predominantly empyreumatic, slightly bitter and with a warm tone. The result is pleasant but quite simple, and really too soft, and the mouth appears much less complex than the nose, and lacks aromatic concentration (but who says more concentration also means more wood?). The finish is persistent on the spices and oak that reappear in the background, as well as the tobacco. The imprint of the rum will remain for a very long time in the mouth, with the most beautiful effect after several minutes. Slight return of bitterness.

The nose is very beautiful and very pleasant, delicate while keeping character thanks to the roasted notes, but the mouth disappoints, too soft, too simple and woody (bitter), and especially far from the complexity of the nose. The finish will make up for it with a very nice persistence, but a few more degrees would surely have saved the mouth (or not). Mixing so many vintages for a result like this is quite impressive, at least on the nose, but for the mouth, and for the price (more than €150 for an hors d'âge, against barely €50 for the first New World) we can then speak of disappointment. Note: 82

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La Mauny 1979 / 43°

Carafe or bottles, there are several versions of this vintage (at least 2 bottles 1 carafe), without mention of age. Some sources report 10 years of aging, others much less. Is it the same rum in each bottle? mystery mystery. A few emails and as many reminders have never provided a precise answer.

The color is amber, tending towards copper, classy, ​​shiny and oily, revealing thick legs.

An intense and very aromatic nose, fruity, with a delicate and smoky woodiness (dried tobacco leaves). The rum offers a very nice balance of flavors, where the alcohol seems quite present for a small 43°. The wood does not overdo it and highlights very well the exotic fruits (stirred banana, mango), candied and vanilla, with flights of cinnamon. The rum is also vegetal with a gourmet cane in the center, slightly earthy, and liquorice stick, chocolate. A harmonious and complex nose, fruity, vanilla, caramelized, and smoky. Classy and gourmet.

The mouth of this 1979 is oily, rather dry on this smoky woodiness (tobacco), followed by fruits sometimes dried, sometimes candied, married to the freshness of the cane. We find banana, in the middle of cinnamon and pepper, in an almost syrupy, and luxuriant (rich) atmosphere. As the nose suggested, it is rich with a nice part made of sweet fruits. It is long and the finish, persistent, is always dry (spicy oak) with a light vegetal freshness, on eucalyptus, and licorice. The rum will remain very long in the mouth, for a pleasure that lasts, with also caramelized fruits.

A very good vintage rum from La Mauny, an excellent and very well balanced nose, harmonious; in the mouth it is rich and rather dry and woody, perhaps a little too much to remain in the complexity of the beginning, but still very good. Note: 88
The tasting of the rum from the carafe and a vintage bottle shows no difference, so it is very plausible that it is the same rum but in different forms of packaging.

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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