HSE Cuvée de l'an 2018 is an AOC Martinique agricultural rum produced at the Simon distillery. This vintage rum is composed of the finest distillates from that year, which represent less than 1% of the distillery's annual production. It follows the vintages of 2000, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2016.
Distilled in July 2018, it was not bottled until November 2021. During this period, the rum matured in stainless steel tanks, benefiting from regular stirring and slow reduction.
The result is a beautifully balanced, aromatic white rum that can be enjoyed neat or in a ti'punch.
Nico's tasting note for the 2018 vintage
The nose is soft and sweet, like a candy cane sugar vesou. It seems caramel-crisp, with hints of sweet almond and marron glacé. The vegetal side creeps in slowly, like cane juice in a clearing.
Aeration releases franker, more rustic aromas, with solid cane bark full of gray pepper. The rum is more precise, tauter, and the cane juice is now fresh and crystalline.
On the palate, an oily lime peel makes contact first, with both bitterness and roundness. The candy cane is then unwrapped on the taste buds, with a sweet, fatty texture, very pleasant in pure tasting.
The finish is a little spicier and warmer, and the pepper brings us a reminder of fiber and cane bark.
"A little fresh cane candy..."
In comparison, the nose of the HSE Blanc Cuvée 2016 was just as rounded, with plenty of mellowness, but also fruit. On the palate, we found a tauter, fresher rum with fruit, then we returned to a more vegetal profile on the finish.
Nico's tasting note for the 2016 vintage
The nose is very pretty, fine and aromatic at the same time. The cane is lively and dapper, it opens like a bouquet of flowers. There are a multitude of fruits, whether tart, ripe and creamy, or even fresh and juicy like a pear. The notes of fermentation and pepper are there in support, they project the cane to the front of the stage. The rum becomes softer over time, it swells like a brioche, with aromas that go as far as milk chocolate.
On the palate , the rum is straight and balanced, on a bright and warm cane. The pepper is melted and maintains the temperature. The ripe, melting fruits take on the creamy texture that we had glimpsed on the nose, then the taste buds are seized by the bitterness of lime, or even kaffir lime.
The finish is herbaceous and vegetal, with a very green cane but delicious at the same time.
“This white rum should work miracles in ti’punch, but it is also a real tasting rum…”
Nico's tasting note of the 2012 vintage
Summary: cane – pineapple – white fruits – pepper – round on the nose – dry on the palate
The nose is well-filled with fresh, fruity, and rounded cane. The pineapple perfectly embodies this fresh and at the same time sweet, terribly exotic side. The pepper is light, it doesn't overpower the natural and silky side of the cane juice. This cane is very candied, soft, like a sugar cane candy. There is freshness too, so a feeling of balance and (dare I say) well-being emerges. The faithful citrus fruits are also very present, with a very ripe lime. The rum settles again on the cane, quite simply. The bagasse is there too but without dryness, the pepper gently throws a few spikes here and there.
Upon aeration, the cane is a little more incisive but never aggressive. It is rather straight and peppery, it has gained in minerality. The fiber and the straw bring something drier, they join the pepper in this sense. The acidity of the fermentation makes its appearance, time will have allowed to detail this eau-de-vie from all angles.
On the palate , the attack is well-rounded, still on the cane. The pepper has taken its ease, it is supported by the bagasse for a dry and striking side. The rum then relaxes quickly and begins a very thick but fresh phase of ripe white fruits, like pear. The notes of fruit fermentation and cane juice, the heaviest aromas, begin the finish.
The finish returns to a white rum of terroir and character, with pepper, the bitterness of lime zest and bagasse.
“A very charming and well-rounded white rum that will make perfect ti-punches…”
Tasting notes for the 2010 vintage
The perfectly crystalline color of HSE Cuvée 2010 hides an unsuspected aromatic power.
On the nose, the aroma of green mango is expressed with passion, supported by notes of exotic fruits and white pepper.
When tasted, HSE Cuvée 2010 is a white rum that surprises with its balance and roundness, characteristic of an exceptional vintage.
