Old Brothers x Joey Starr New Grove XO

That’s what we call a featuring. Old Brothers worked with Joey Starr to make a Mauritian blend from the New Grove distillery. The blend is composed of rums from a total of 6 casks with 5 different vintages : 1999, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2013. New Grove is a bit unknown in the rum world but have some potential, I already tasted some nice single casks from them.
I hope I’ll enjoy this one as much as the recent <>H from Old Brothers. On board!

Old Brothers x Joey Starr New Grove XO (53.1%, 1000 bottles, blend of 6 casks)

Colour: Copper.
Nose: That’s fruity and floral. Peach jam, blood oranges, raspberries, blackcurrant, eucalyptus candies, mangoes, papayas, wood, lemons, grapefruits, camphor, brown sugar and coffee beans. That’s evolutive with roundness and a nice aromatic strength.
Mouth: The texture is oily, that’s strong with lot of fruits as we had in the nose. Peaches, caramelized apricots, chilies, wood, peppermint, roasted notes, raspberries, floral notes, mangoes, camphor, blackberries and quinces with some slight bitterness at the end of the mouth. The mouth is powerful, concentrated but a bit less expressive than this great nose.
Finish: Long and warm. Burnt caramel, slightly bitterish smoke, exotic fruit jam, peach syrup, vanilla and violet candies.

A very nice blend and we get off the beaten track with New Grove. I loved the nose in particular. Great!

Score: 88

If you use to swear only by single casks, try this one. Another nice selection from the brothers, the last white bottle (MLC) will be reviewed as well in the following weeks.
Good job to Old Brothers and Joey Starr for this « sun juice », it describes it pretty well, I can already see myself sip it on a Mauritian beach.
Cheers!