Aroma visualization from community tastings
Montebello Rare Rhum Vieux 1948
"A wonderful piece of history" is how one German taster put it, and that's the mood around this 1948 Guadeloupe cane-juice rum. The nose runs smoky and earthy — tobacco, myrrh-like incense, and a Coca-Cola note several members single out. On the palate it's oily and rich for 55%: dark fruit, milk chocolate, herbs, wood that never takes over, and a long peppery-bitter finish. Nobody here treats it as ordinary.
The community says- Smoky tobacco depth
- Oily rich body
- Balanced old oak
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The look inside the bottle
How does Montebello Rare Rhum Vieux 1948 taste?
Aggregated from 13 community reviews.
Smoky, earthy 1948 Guadeloupe cane-juice rarity The rare-bottle verdict is near-unanimous: deep, smoky and unlike newer Montebellos, with the oak held in perfect check. A once-in-a-lifetime pour for the people lucky enough to try it.
collectors chasing old, smoky French-style rum
beginners or anyone wanting sweet, easy sipping
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
4 of 13 left detailed tasting impressions
Recommendation
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How is Montebello Rare Rhum Vieux 1948 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 9.3 sits in the “Excellent” band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Community voices
What does the community say?
100% rate it 8 or higher. 5 selected write-ups from 13 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Jakob
Completely different league than all other Montebellos known to me - it should of course also be noted that it is in the comparison field in terms of distillation vintages a difference of more than three decades. What is offered here, however, is simply sensational: In the nose already of breathtaking depth with heavy fruits, fresh cola aroma and floral notes, the bouquet thickens on the palate to an oily texture with chocolaty sweetness, heavy fruitiness, excellent spice and perfectly balanced wood influence. Whatever Carrere (or whoever - the exact origin is still rumored) did differently than today: Play it again, Sam!
Review by Émile Shevek
The nose is explosive with roast, smoke, tobacco, forest and some floral and honey notes. The palate has a unique taste that I have never heard, smoky and dry wood and leather scents, but also fruity (raisins/ figs) and full-bodied sweet with an intense and long finish that also carries some peppery and coffee notes. In the empty glass roasted, wood and some fruit. What a bomb
Review by Joachim Guger
Gediegen. Erdig, Tabak, Rauch. Wunderbare Nase. Würziger und holziger in der Nase. Langer, würziger Abgang. Eine wunderbares Stück Geschichte. Hätte nie gedacht, dass ich den jemals ins Glas bekomme.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
My only notes on this one is heavy smoky wood, fruits and earthy.
Review by Oliver
Hat richtig Power. Sensationell!
Expert reviews
2 critics scored it, averaging 9.4/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Rob Bauer
Read full review →In the Top 5 French Style Rums and the best of Guadeloupe. Nose Dori me, interimo ayapare, dorime. Ameno ameno! We're in an old, dim catholic cathedral, enveloped with deep notes of swirling incense, smoldering myrrh and many undefined herbs! What a supreme welcome! Further we descent to deeper, more earthy impressions of the purest Coca-Cola essence (which is very Damoiseau in our book), manioc puree and cooling eucalypt leaves (not mint!). After some minutes in the glass we even find some macadamia and hazelnuts, together with beautiful flowers like violets, Ylang-Ylang and Jasmin. Someting one can also find in the 80's Macallans. Apart from being phenomenal, the bouquet is of an abysmal depth. Palate Pardon our french, but this is godamn great. Super rich (almost monumental), powerful and heavy like a marble bench, even after 42 years in the cask! And guess what, the oak influence is perfectly integrated. We get all the herbal and earthy flavours we found on the bouquet, but combined with an astonishing delicatness of caramelized dates in milk chocolate. But what's most thrilling is the slight medicinal, smokey touch, which slightly reminds us of La Bonne Intention. Good gracious! Even at 55% the texture is oily and smooth like mohair wool. Finish A long and satisfying, bittersweetness forward aria of roots, jungle herbs, cocoa and burnt tobacco. Once again, the bitterness is perfectly integrated.
Expert review by Rob Bauer
In the Top 5 French Style Rums and the best of Guadeloupe. Nose Dori me, interimo ayapare, dorime. Ameno ameno! We're in an old, dim catholic cathedral, enveloped with deep notes of swirling incense, smoldering myrrh and many undefined herbs! What a supreme welcome! Further we descent to deeper, more earthy impressions of the purest Coca-Cola essence (which is very Damoiseau in our book), manioc puree and cooling eucalypt leaves (not mint!). After some minutes in the glass we even find some macadamia and hazelnuts, together with beautiful flowers like violets, Ylang-Ylang and Jasmin. Someting one can also find in the 80's Macallans. Apart from being phenomenal, the bouquet is of an abysmal depth. Palate Pardon our french, but this is godamn great. Super rich (almost monumental), powerful and heavy like a marble bench, even after 42 years in the cask! And guess what, the oak influence is perfectly integrated. We get all the herbal and earthy flavours we found on the bouquet, but combined with an astonishing delicatness of caramelized dates in milk chocolate. But what's most thrilling is the slight medicinal, smokey touch, which slightly reminds us of La Bonne Intention. Good gracious! Even at 55% the texture is oily and smooth like mohair wool. Finish A long and satisfying, bittersweetness forward aria of roots, jungle herbs, cocoa and burnt tobacco. Once again, the bitterness is perfectly integrated.
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Details about Montebello Rare Rhum Vieux 1948
A Column Still Rum from Guadeloupe, distilled by Montebello, at 55%.
Community purchases
8 bottles logged by 8 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
50% opened, 3 emptied and repurchased.
8 purchased · 13 tasted · 27 wishlist · as of
About the Montebello distillery
The Montebello distillery is located in Guadeloupe. Rums from Montebello have been reviewed 1,512 times with an average of 8.0/10.
To Montebello →Read on in the RumX Guide
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I'm Oliver, and RumX began in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
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