Bielle Les Rhums Vieux De 2005

Bielle is a Marie-Galante distillery known for cane-variety experiments and high-proof bottlings, and this single cask from the 2005 vintage is a fully aged agricole bottled at cask strength. Made under Guadeloupe's IGP, it is cane-juice rum given a full decade of tropical maturation.

Distilled from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice on a column still and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it has turned dark and dry, with the wood now leading. The nose offers oak, caramel, a vegetal note and allspice, while the palate brings more oak, a mineral edge, roasted notes and caramel. The character runs to the drier, spicier side of aged agricole rather than anything sweet, with a faintly earthy edge that gives it grip. Powerful and unsweetened at 57.1%, it is a robust single cask for drinkers who want their aged cane-juice rum dark, mineral and full of oak.