Velier The Vieux Labbé (20th Anniversary) 1999

Vieux Labbe comes from the Distillerie de Port-au-Prince, linked to the Berling side of the Barbancourt family, and this 1999 vintage was chosen by Velier to mark twenty years of its rum work. Made from sugar cane juice and syrup rather than molasses, it is a Haitian rhum rather than a true clairin, but the cane juice lineage runs through it. Two decades of tropical ageing have made it deep and concentrated, and at 58.9% it carries serious weight.

The Ex-Bourbon wood has had a long time to work, and it shows in cherry and dark berry fruit, caramel, espresso, tobacco and licorice, with old oak threading the whole thing together. The palate is dry and oak driven, the finish long and savoury. This is a contemplative pour that wants time and perhaps a single drop of water to open. Drinkers who like old Barbancourt or dry, structured rums and want something darker and more intense will find this hits the mark.