Barbancourt

[Jason Perlow]

In SAVEUR magazine's TOP 100 issue on page 53, Barbancourt was selected because it is "... distilled in French-accented Haiti from the juice of sugarcane (not molasses, like most rums.)"

The last time I checked Barbancourt was NOT a rhum agricole. Anyone want to confirm this? I think Saveur screwed up. Barbancourt is great, but I'm pretty sure its a Rhum Industriel.

EDIT: Well, I was wrong. I checked Ed's rum database and sure enough, it says its made with Cane Juice. I guess every Rhum Agricole doesnt have to have the words "Rhum Agricole" on the label. Barbancourt sure doesnt taste like one though, especially when compared to St. James, Bally, Dusquene, Trois Rivieres, Dillon, Niesson or La Mauny. All of the aformentioned Rhums are from Martinique though, so maybe the way the sugar is processed on Martinique compared to Haiti or the source of the sugar itself lends to a different flavor.

[Markus Lewalski]

Hallo Jason,

I am also a bit confused. First Barbancourt tastes really like a rum from molasses and not like a rhum agricole.

And in the 2002 rumfest the Barbancort 8 yo and 15 yo won prizes in the 'molasses' category whilst the Barbancourt Traditional White won a silver medal in the new Cane Juice Spirits Category (see http://www.rumshop.net/rumfestivalresults.htm ). Very strange...

But I learned also that Barbancourt is made from fresh cane juice.

Markus

[Ed Hamilton]

Barbancourt is made from sugar cane juice crushed at the distillery, no molasses. The Rumfest screwed up by putting it in the molasses class. BUT it is NOT RHUM AGRICOLE.

Barbancourt is distilled in a column still then redistilled in a pot still.

In order to be considered rhum agricole it must be distilled to only about 72% alcohol and then aged in barrels of less than 650liters, quite a large barrel, but considerably smaller than the vats used to age Barbancourt.

So the short answer is that Barbancourt is made from sugar cane juice but is not rhum agricole. There are a few other rhums also made from sugar cane juice which aren't rhum agricole, like Rivers in Grenada.

[dck57]

Ed- What do you recommend as the best way to drink Barbancourt?

[Ed Hamilton]

I drink Barbancourt on the rocks but then I only drink the 3 and 5 star, I find the 15 yo quite a different spirit and not as good as the 8 yo 5 star.

I also mix Barbancourt with other rums from time to time such as Cruzan Estate Diamond, which has a drier taste. The results are surprising. Purists may disagree with me, but to each his own and that's why there are over 2000 rums in the world today.