Bally Art Déco is a tribute to a great man of Martinique rum, and indeed of rum in general. The Art Deco movement was born in France in the 1920s, when Jacques Bally was distilling his first rums. After a visit to the Paris World's Fair, he met fellow distillers of cognac and armagnac, and also decided to make rum a high-class spirit. Thus was born the first vintage rum in history, Bally 1924.
This Art Deco cuvée was created by one of the finest inheritors of this rum-making past: Marc Sassier. It is a blend of three vintages. First, a 2007 rum aged for 12 years in American oak barrels, then rums from 2003 and 1998, aged for 15 and 18 years respectively, both aged in French oak barrels.
The result is a very complex, well-balanced, mature rhum agricole that still leaves room for fresh sugarcane aromas, in the purest tradition of AOC Martinique rum.
Nico's tasting notes
The nose is fresh and intense, with green, chlorophyll notes. Its tannins are still lively and tenacious, even if their dilution with solvent renders them devoid of any aggressiveness. The cane is at one with this oak, and tends to round it out with age.
Aeration reveals a more mature, spicy, traditional woodiness. Intensity is still the order of the day, and is now at the service of concentration. The cane is clothed in a solid bark of sweet spices and precious woods, cigar-box style.
On the palate, we find our tannins and their slight acidity, as well as a slightly astringent, grippy texture. The wood beckons and draws us in with its still resinous, freshly uncovered fiber. These tannins melt quickly on the mid-palate, stretching into fruitiness before beginning to compote. The acidity of apple and pear remains, and quince adds a little more flesh.
The finish is finely spiced and woody, while the length is inhabited by ripe cane.
"A well-tannic, resinous woodiness, which the cane undertakes to melt into a fruit compote..."
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