The latest Flora Antillarum series from Velier focuses on showcasing rums from Guadeloupe, in its first set of releases, namely - Montebello, Karukera and Bologne. The series is named after a historical book that Velier's chief Luca Gargano came to acquire, that documented the botanical, rural and economic history of the native plants in the Antilles. It was authored by François Richard de Tussac, a French botanic who later became senator for Guadeloupe of the Antilles.

In the book, there was of course many illustrations of the flora that was to be found on the islands, which as you might've guessed became the labels for the new series of rums, all of which were bottled at barrel proof. The rums were each a blend of several casks, agricole rums distilled from cane juice in Creole column stills and aged in ex-Cognac barrels, save for the Montebello, which appears to be a single cask blend of agricole and traditional molasses distilled rum, which was aged in ex-bourbon and then ex-Cognac.

While this series might not have garnered the same attention as the earlier Magnum Elliott Erwitt Series, which featured rums that are the equivalent of a band's "Best Of..." album, such as Foursquare, Hampden, the usual stuff, I for one am happy that some of the lesser known Guadeloupe rums are getting their minute in the spotlight.

Unless you live in Europe, the reality is it's not particularly easy to get your hands on any of these three rums - I'm pretty certain less than a hundred people know of them in Asia. Yet it's important to remember unknown doesn't necessary equate to less good.

Velier has in the past bottled Montebello's under its Basseterre label, and Karukera in its 70th anniversary and Japoniani series, I believe this is the first for Bologne.

In keeping with the theme of Guadeloupe's natural environment which is the inspiration for this series, let's acquaint ourselves with the microcosm of Guadeloupe.

A map of Guadeloupe and its rum distilleries. (Image Source: Club Rhum Guadeloupe)

As you can see, Guadeloupe is made out of effectively a butterfly-shaped landmass at the top left quadrant, followed by two smaller separate islands at the top right quadrant and bottom right.

To orientate you, the two major landmasses (top left) are made of two conjoined islands - Basse-Terre (left) and Grande-Terre (right). Basse-Terre means "low land" while Grande-Terre translates to "large land". 

The island on the top left is La Desirade, while the island on the bottom right is Marie Galante.

What makes Guadeloupe so special is that the terrain on each landmass is completely unique and different from the others and so offers up rather differentiated styles of rum, even if they all mostly do rhum agricoles ie. distillation using cane juice.

Today's trio of rums all come from the Basse Terre landmass - Montebello, Bologne and Karukera.

Let's start with the Montebello. 

Montebello is located on the Basse-Terre landmass, specifically at Petit Bourge, which is on the eastern side of the island. I'll spare you its history and point out what's more unique, which is that the distillery has a practice of accelerating the rum's maturation by placing the oak barrels of rum in a heated steel container. The distillery also hand-harvests its sugarcanes from volcanic soil and is the few remaining distilleries to use steam engines.

This expression is a blend of agricole and traditional rums, which is to say cane juice and molasses are both used. It was aged in ex-Bourbon and then ex-Cognac.

Montebello 2002, 19 Years Old, 41.3% ABV - Review

Color: Deep Copper

Aroma: A little thin here with mostly oak and black tea tannins, balsamic, which gets slightly bitter and herbal. It has notes of parsley, oregano and thyme. Not much sweetness initially on the nose, mostly herbal and oaky.

Over time, it evolves into something more salty and umami akin to aged parmesan. Still quite herbaceous, with a touch of nuttiness, reminiscent of blue cheese pizza with garlic butter and crushed walnuts. It also begins to showcase a slightly more lactic sour note, which I identify as left out beer. Touches of yellow pears, cigarette ash, somewhat savoury even.

Taste: Noticeably dry and slightly tannic, with a wave of acidity and tannins of grape skins, followed by some caramel. The acidity and tartness continues into hawflakes and apple eau de vie. Light touches of brown sugar syrup.

Finish: Long, with lots of warmth. Its aromas seem to make a reprisal here, with nutty and umami notes, of breakfast ham and walnuts. The tannins continue to remain on display - breakfast tea, brown sugar, with a touch of citrus. There's a curiously sour-bitter lactic note that still remains.

My Thoughts

I found the Montebello to be quite perplexing and somewhat discordant, with quite the set of savoury-herbaceous-umami-sour notes that doesn't really resonate with me. There wasn't as much sweetness as I would have liked and I found it somewhat thin and difficult to approach. Perhaps the ABV was alittle on the low-end and so the flavors didn't shine through as much, and came across a little flat and astringent. I'm not entirely sure how the mix of agricole and traditional rum might have influenced the flavor (or maybe it was the accelerated aging?), but I wasn't a fan of this one.

That said, I would like to try more Montebello's to get a better sense of their house style.

--- 

On to the next! The Bologne is up! 

Bologne, also on Basse Terre, is located on the west of the landmass. Bologne has a very keen focus on a more historical cane varietal - Black Cane, which is said to be much more aromatic, albeit with a poor yield, which is why its been phased out at other distilleries. Bologne is the only distillery in Guadeloupe that harvests Black Cane, which has been the core focal point of a couple of its releases.

The distillery also focuses on producing distillate up to the 55-60% ABV to extract fewer grassy notes (interesting given that the grassy note is a hallmark of the agricole style!). Last but not least, the distillery matures all of its rums in ex-Cognac or ex-Armagnac casks to impart a stronger fruitier flavor to its rums.

This expression from Velier is I believe the first Bologne for the Italian importer, and weighs in at 54.9% ABV, and is a blend of 3 casks distilled in a Creole column, aged in ex-Cognac barrels.

Bologne 2014, 7 Years Old, 54.9% ABV - Review

Color: Slightly Lighter Amber

Aroma: This immediately brings forth winey notes, reminiscent of madeira, black grapes skins, light oak tannins - not as aromatic as I'd expect but still quite fragrant. Notes of dried chillis which give a spicier, tingly sensation. It then mellows out into a sweeter melted brown sugar and butter mix, alongside some fresh slightly vegetal cane syrup. 

Taste: Lightly honeyed, with a touch of medicinal, earthy, root-y quality, but thus far quite gentle. Very delicate umami flavors that resemble shiitake mushrooms freshly harvested. This grows into torched brown sugars, caramel custard pudding, with a faint pepperiness. More cane sugars, cane syrup, and cane juice - the agricole style really shows towards the end.

Finish: Quite short, with a good deal of oaky astringency. More brown sugar which gradually fades out, and then more interestingly, roars back with a deeper punchy almost milk chocolate-y muscovado-fuelled warmth.

My Thoughts 

Quite gentle, not as punchy as other Bologne's I've tried, while it doesn't seem to showcase much in terms of fruits, instead it carried more earthiness that I tend to find in Japanese Okinawan rums. The aromas were much more enjoyable and showcased more complexity than the palate which was quite light. What I enjoyed alot is the flavors of burnt brown sugar which gave the rum alot more depth, earthiness and maltiness that was very delightful. That said, the rum could on the whole be amped up a couple of notches.

--- 

Last, but not least, Karukera! The youngest of the lot, but also the most hefty in terms of ABV.

Karukera comes from the Esperance Distillery down the eastern coast from Montebello, also of the Basse Terre landmass. The Esperance Distillery is supposedly the oldest distillery on Guadeloupe and whose flagship brand is actually Longueteau, another line of rums.

Where the division comes is that the estate grows two varietals of sugarcane, one of which is Canne Bleue, which Karukera solely uses. Canne Bleue is supposedly famed for being more aromatic, higher in sugar content and gives off citrus fruit aromas in its rums. It's probably more famous because of its use in Martiniquais distillery Rhum Clement, which is a rhum agricole staple.

Karukera therefore borrows the use of Esperance Distillery to produce its rums, and is the product of a longstanding friendship between Esperance's François Longueteau and Sylvain Guzzo, the latter of whom is the distillery's commercial director. They wanted to create a brand focusing on the use of Canne Bleue, also using Creole columns and aging in French ex-Cognac barrels and also White Oak barrels.

Apparently, there's a story that Lance over at LoneCaner reported being that it was Sylvain Guzzo who Luca had enlisted to help search for other high quality casks in Guadeloupe, that landed Velier some of its earlier "Basse Terre" branded Montebello rums.

This expression is a 2009 Karukera, with a 60.4% ABV, and is a blend of 2 casks, having been distilled in a Creole column and aged in ex-Cognac barrels. 

Karukera 2009, 12 Years Old, 60.4% ABV - Review

Color: Deep Copper

Aroma: Light szechuan peppercorns (think ma la) to start, gentle but not without some spunk. Takes time to open up, with tart hawflakes, yet the sweetness and depth of maltose candy and brown sugar. It starts to put out more fruity flavors of apple brandy, cognac or tawny port. The hallmark cane juice and gula melaka begins to show.

With more time, the aromas evolve beautifully, with earthy, leafy tobacco leaf, more brown sugar, cola fizz, sarsaparilla, vanilla caramel, root beer - a sort of deep, earthy, sweet maltiness. Then onto fresh soil, dried forest leaves, finally ending off with a light creamy bittersweetness.

Taste: Very vibrant and spritely, it's lightly spicy and tingly, a very refreshing sensation. It is slightly bitter medicinal almost like cough syrup, and then more brown sugars, with a dash of light aromatic ash. Over time it opens up into something sweeter and more floral, lilies and plumerias. More bittersweet cigar ash, again an earthy leafiness and turned soil.

Finish: Long, it keeps evolving, absolutely lovely! At first a continuation of the palate - it is at once sweet, medicinal, sooty, bittersweet, earthy. Highly complex and keeps you guessing and each time surprised and delighted.

My Thoughts 

I really enjoyed the Karukera, it was by far the favorite of the lot and came through with great aromas that were well-balanced and had a good amount of contrast and variation. The palate was also equally of the sort, good restraint, doesn't ever feel like a 60.4% ABV spirit in terms of heat, but definitely feels that way in terms of flavors. But what really got me was the finish which kept evolving and almost felt like three different finishes in one. It was like a merry-go-round of profiles, each making a big splash and then rotating to the next. It kept me guessing and constantly surprised and delighted. Really wonderful stuff!

Overall

I definitely enjoyed the Karukera the most, it was the most sophisticated, with great power and variation. 

I thought the Bologne was decent but nothing to write home about, I've tried a couple of other Bologne's on the site that I've reviewed that I enjoyed more, which were more expressive and really felt like a steamroller of intense flavors.

Last, but not least, I probably enjoyed the Montebello the least, it was alittle discordant with a flavor mix that didn't resonate much with me, although if you enjoy the savory-sour mix and you've always found rums a tad too sweet, then this might be for you. That said, it could certainly be more cohesive.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot