The Cane Spirit Society is a collection of rum enthusiasts that banded together in order to purchase rare, pricey bottles to be sampled and discussed. For our 5th session we went for this 1972 vintage from Guadeloupe that was distilled at a now defunct distillery.
The story of Domaine De Courcelles starts in 1862 when the Courcelles sugar factory was built in Saint-Anne, south of Grande-Terre. In the 1920s an attempt to merge the Courcelles with the Gardel and Gentilly factories resulted in its bankruptcy and in 1928 it had to be completely rebuilt after being destroyed by a cyclone. A distillery was built on the estate in 1931 and the “Rhum superieur Courcelles” trademark was filed in court on the 5th of November 1932. The Courcelles Distillery was closed in 1964 and all its distillation equipment and production was moved to the Sainte-Marthe distillery until 1972 when it was also shut. The remaining ageing stock was purchased by a merchant in 1998 and was moved to Marie-Galante to be transferred to oak foudres – according to Google, these are large wooden vats (at leas 600 litre capacity) used for transporting and ageing wine.
The rum in this bottle was distilled in 1972, put into barrels in January 1973, disgorged in July 2011 and was bottled in 2014. This was launched by a Swiss independent bottler called Rhumhouse.
Domaine De Courcelles (1972) 2022 Edition is molasses based, pot still distilled and aged for 38 years in oak barrels and oak “foudres”. Bottled at 54% ABV without any additives.
On the nose it feels aromatic. Creole spices, ripe pears, dried figs, peppermint and vanilla. Sour cherries, dusty old furniture, dried apricots and nougat. While I’m aware this was made from molasses, the nose reminds me of long aged agricole rhums. Red apples, mulberries, allspice and sandalwood. Some floral honey, muscovado sugar and candied bananas as well.
On the palate the aromatic flavours carry on. Creole spices galore (quite a bit of anise), cloves, pink pepper, ripe bananas and cardamom. Almonds, cayenne pepper and camomile tea. It’s more intense on the palate than I thought it would be. Sweet tobacco, mango, peppermint and an enjoyable herbaceous note. Feijoa, guava and red apples. The finish is long with Earl Grey tea and tropical fruits.
This is like a gift that keeps on giving. If I had the patience, I could probably write new tasting notes every half an hour, it just keeps evolving. While you couldn’t tell from the fairly pale colour of the rum, the ageing really imparted some beautiful tropical and spicy notes.
This bottle was bought for about £290 for 50cl which is outside the budget of the average person, but I’m very glad I had the chance to sample this gem – absolutely stunning!
Domaine De Courcelles (1972) 2022 Edition – Rhumhouse (Cane Spirit Society) score:
Flavour/taste: 62/70
Value for money: 14/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 91/100
Cheers!