Let’s face the hype! Part 2

If you missed the first part click here. This bottling is more recent than the two previous, it recently made a lot of noise. Bottled by the Belgian IB The Nectar of the Daily drams, that’s the first of its kind! A 6 months old traditional Grand Arôme rum from Le Galion distillery in Martinique, aged in an ex-PX/ex-DOK cask, what a crazy combo! And to be honest, I’m not very confident about the result of this scientific experience but we’re not immune to a good surprise… That’s exactly the kind of rum you need to taste before buying it in my opinion. There’s some facts that can explain the hype : black bottle, Grand arôme, ex-DOK finish, traditionnal rum from Martinique (quite unusual) and price tag around 65€. I don’t think it’s cheap by the way, 65€ for a 6 months aged rum is the opposite. We’ve talked enough, right?

The Nectar of the Daily drams Le Galion 2021 (59%)

Colour: Light straw.
Nose: Say hello to the Hampden high ester department! First that’s powerful and estery like an Hampden but with some strange notes which doesn’t match very well. Lot of solvents and polish, overripe bananas, mix of black and green olives, lemons, canon powder, candies, overripe papayas, pineapples, mangoes, smoke, herbal notes and olive oil. It goes in different directions without consistency, it’s also acidulous and dry, okay I hope the mouth is gonna be better!
Mouth: What the h*ll, my first impression is that it’s even worse than the nose… It’s unpleasantly astringent and very spiced. Overripe papayas, mangoes, rotten bananas, the same strange strawberry as Savanna Grand arôme, solvents, polish, oranges, bubblegum, tar, freshly cut grass, petrol and lot of olives. I feel like if I was in the middle of a fight between the cask and the rum and get knocked by accident. If you don’t like the nose, wait for the mouth!
Finish: Long (of course…) with burnt wood, bubblegum and roasted pineapples.

I would have preferred to say it’s an April fool but sorry it’s not. It could be funny to trap your friends with a blind tasting but no more.

Score: 65

That’s the kind of rum I dislike, the cask influence overwhelms the other aromas and create an unpleasant result with a very poor expression from the rum itself.
It was an crazy experience I’m happy to conclude! Thanks Sébastien for the sample, cheers!