After tasting @rhumj.bally’s 1929 millesime, it seemed appropriate for me to follow-up with a review of another old rhum from J. Bally’s selection, the 1960 millesime.

This particular rhum would have also been distilled at the original Lajus plantation in 1960 from pure sugarcane juice, aged fully in the tropics before bottling. But as before, the age of the rhum itself remains unbeknownst to us.

I rather enjoyed the nose of this one despite it being rather compact. Patience is key in this instance as time slowly peels apart the layers of aromatics in it. There are notes of creme brûlée, milk chocolates, a little hint of rancio. And as it breathes further and opens up, it brings with it a breath of freshness, mint, a slight grassy, nail polish, and rock melons.

Unfortunately the palate isn’t as impressive as the nose promised. It starts off rather flat, before the notes of coffee, milk chocolates, and plain yoghurt start to reveal themselves, and followed with oak which gives it a slight drying texture. The finish is medium in length and here it gets slightly fruitier, raisins, prunes, a hint of savouriness, akin to olives.

Its probably unfair to compare the 1960 to the 1929, given that these two would’ve been distilled under very different circumstances, along with so many other factors that might’ve contributed to its respective flavour profiles. That said, I had hoped that the 1960 would have been more rounded, chocolatey, perhaps bigger in texture and a tad more oily. But not all of them can be gems, and sometimes we just have to appreciate it as what it is, which in this case, is still a rather nice agricole rhum that can be appreciated by all.

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu