Bielle's 2014 Brut de fût vintage returns for a third Batch, but this time at 57.4°. This Savalle column-distilled agricultural rum is produced on Marie-Galante in Guadeloupe, the island nicknamed "the island of a hundred mills".
Like the previous batch, it too was aged for 7 years in bourbon oak casks before being transferred to ex-sweet white wine casks. It was bottled in 2021 without reduction or cold filtration.
Complementing the tasting note for this new batch, the Bielle 2014 brut de fût batch 1 showed a powerful, earthy nose, and opened with ripe, almost dried fruit. The palate was very fruity, with ripe cane juice. The finish was quite similar to that of batch 2, with perhaps a little more freshness.
And here are the tasting notes for Bielle 2014 brut de fût batch 2.
Nico's tasting notes
On the nose, sugar-laden fruit explodes in our faces, as does the generous juice of the cane. A good handful of dried fruit follows, with apricots, raisins and, finally, green mango adding a little kick and acidity.
With aeration, we rediscover the mirabelle plum jam typical of the Bielle house. It coats a cane that has retained some of its dry character, another characteristic of the Marie-Galante terroir.
The palate is initially surprisingly round and oily. The rum settles and spreads gently on the palate, then briefly grabs the taste buds with a firm grip of cane juice and spices. This releases our sweet fruit juices, which gradually turn to jam.
On the finish, the jam is lengthened with spiced cane juice, for a pretty agricultural treat.
"All the jammy character of Bielle's aged rums, with a little "kick" from the dry, windy terroir of Marie-Galante..."
This third batch is undoubtedly the sweetest and most candied, even if the fresh cane sometimes comes back to the fore. It has lost the freshness of the previous batches, but has gained a particularly oily texture.
Denis
Really good