Saint James Royal Ambre 18-Mois

The first bottle of agricole available to me. Didn't take to it at all initially, but it's found a key place in some recipes. Piqued my curiosity to seek out "higher shelf" options.

Bonne introduction aux rhums agricoles.
Rien de spécial par contre

Tolerable on it’s own but not amazing. However shines in cocktails and making rhum raisin ice cream for example. Compared to the blanc you can definitely taste the influence of the aging.

Correct to drink neat directly at the bottle and enjoy the rest of the afternoon as scripted on the pic. Quality/price ratio positive

The color is a shade of light brown, not the usual caramel glow, but pleasant enough. The bottle is rectangular, label unpretentious and stylish. In a glass, there are a few thin legs.

The smell is faint, hints of chocolate together with a sharp, vegetal note like cut grass.

The flavor starts with weak sweat impression, a touch of nougat or perhaps pralines, again paired with a dissonant, vegetal note, and the unmistakable off-flavor of young alcohol (although I have tasted unaged rums like the Jamaican Rum Fire, that have much cleaner and pleasant taste). The body is extremely thin, and the finish is short to non-existent, which is actually a blessing, because a lingering aftertaste would not be welcome.

I admit that I have a bias against column still rums, preferring vastly the heavier, thicker English-style distillates; and while this rum is not outright terrible, it is certainly not good. There is conflicting information in the reviews and the title - some state the ABV is at 45%, mine, as well as other reviewers' was at 40%, which in my opinion hurts the resulting impression a lot.

The only advantage was that it was remarkably cheap - one liter bottle for just below 500 Czech Crowns (Which is like 22 dollars, approximately) is an excellent price (and I suspect it was lying in the warehouse from before the inflation craze started).

I poured the rest of the glass into diet coke, and while it did not add any interesting flavor, it sort of removed most of the sweetness, so the result tasted like rum flavored carbonated water.

Not really a fan.

At first the smell is a little bit non-ideal… But after the first sip it becomes very appealing.

Notes if many things, mild whisky, those flavors like vanilla cocoa, balanced with slight sweetness, little sharpness like spices.
Quickly gone, very smooth… I want more

Agricolo adatto a tutti, note di legno sul finale, ok per rum e cola

($40CAD) Nice to see a new Agricole on the block!
Smells of grass and carmel, with a little hint of oak.
Quite grassy on the tongue with a surprisingly long buttery finish given the shorter aging (18 months). It’s not bad when you want an Agricole, but needs more excitement. I imagine the “old rhums” of Saint James is where I should be looking.

I always felt this was a run-of-the-mill rum. Safe. No worries. It works but its ultimately boring. But over the years, it became a rum that I would end up messing with. I'd spice it with vanilla pod, Szechuan pepper and gulah merah and it would end up being very drinkable.

I was given the bottle as a gift . Glad I never paid for it . Tried it with different mixers but definitely not for me