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Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2002
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Built for people who love very old, very woody agricole and don't mind a challenge. Nearly everyone loves the nose — old sandalwood, vanilla powder, blood orange, dried fruit. Then the palate turns dry, tannic and sour, with a soapy note that splits the room hard. A few taste tropical mango and pineapple; others hit "Katzenurin" and give up. Polarizing 19-year Saint James.
The community says- Beautiful old nose
- Deep woody complexity
- Keep in mind: Soapy palate
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The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2002 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Old, woody agricole with a divisive soapy palate Gorgeous nose, divisive palate. Most agree it's a beautiful old woody Martinique, but the soap and sharp sourness on the tongue push scores all over the place.
Fans of very old, dry, woody agricole who like leather, tannin and black tea
Anyone sensitive to soapy notes or sharp sourness
Style & occasion: Fresh & grassyMature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
24 of 60 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
Buying advice
Is it right for you?
Yes, if you're after characterful, fresh, grassy rums for sipping neat.
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What does the community say?
60 community reviews
Rating scale & review checks
On RumX, 7 means “Good” and 8 means “Very good”.
See the full rating guideHow ratings are made and how we check them ›The website shows a selection of written reviews. The distribution also includes ratings without text. All published reviews are available in the RumX app.
21 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 60 ratings, including those without text.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Most helpful positive review
This is one of those that you will either like or hate because of the heavy profile. I'd say it's pretty close to the Corman Collins release just with even more smoky wood and tannins. Dry with dried fruit and spices in the back. But the smoky wood and tannins take the front seat on this one. A super dry finish!
Review by Serge
Most helpful critical review
Parallel tasting of the Velier Saint James range in the Franconian Tasting Gang. Thanks Dom for opening them 👌 Overall, the set is not outstandingly good for me but rather average with a few outliers up and down. Brief summary by vintages: 2015 & 2014 were rather unpleasant for me. 2010 & 2012 better but still nothing I would want to drink again. 2008 & 2006 & 2004 were then clearly better and more interesting. 2002 then a total failure again (cat pee that developed into multivitamin tablets and doesn't fit the wood at all). 2000 then good again and 1998 for me the best from the set.
Review by zabo
Franconian tasting gang on 10.05.2024 First a big thank you to DomM who provided this set. Personally, the profile didn't grab me. Except for one exception, this soap taste is too much for me. The leftovers in the glasses ended up thanks to DomM and Serge in a spontaneous and outstanding cocktail.
Review by Jakob
In direct comparison with the other vintages of the series on the nose more discreet fruit, but more spices and herbal notes. Again, slight waxy-soapy hints. Then very acidic and bitter on the palate, my primary associations are citrus and dark chocolate. The soap notes also remain perceptible, but remain in the background. Still does not meet my taste, as the acidity is too extreme for my taste. In my opinion, there are clearly better Saint James releases from 2002 - e.g. the Corman Collins.
Review by Oliver
Too dry and too much acidity for my taste. I wouldn't have blindly ordered it to Martinique.
Review by LukaŽiga
7,7:On the nose, the first impression we get are tea, herbaceous sugar cane, smoky, roasted wood with confectionery, caramel, nuts, spicy with vanilla and tropical fruits like banana, dried and yellow fruits. On aeration, the impression gets worse with medicinal notes like glue, tannins, soap, quite strong nutmeg, pretty imbalanced, citrus and flowery sugarcane, cocoa improve the picture. 7,8:On the palate, the attack is a bit sweet with smoky, roasted wood notes like toffee, chocolate, the cane is musty, grassy and perfumed, there are some medicinal notes, soap, with resting the rum sourness arises, citrus with lime peel, pineapple, peppery and flowery cane, we find sandal wood notes. 7,7:The finish is dry and tannic, the wood roasted, spicy and smoky, the cane is grassy and floral, there are tea, sap, citrus and dried fruits..
Review by Joachim Guger
I really like the nose. Perfectly balanced, without one component standing out. Woody, heavy, dried fruits. A hint of flower. On the palate very strong and crisp, here the soap note appears again. Unlike the younger vintages, it can just be countered here. Very good, solid Saint James with some flaws.
Review by Timo Groeger
This set has been waiting a long time to be tasted. Third is the 2002. Falls short compared to the previous one. We have wood, vanilla and caramel on the nose. On the palate then besides wood, vanilla and chocolate quite soapy.
Review by Frank
Great VSGB vertical live tasting by and with Luca Gargano. 22.19.2022, 16:56. This one is said to have more than 2000 congeners. Nose: full-bodied, balanced, delicious. Pleasant old sandalwood with old vanilla powder, creamy toffee with currant, blood orange and cherry. Dried plum and rum raisin give some subdued tones. Slightly soap and light licorice at the back, but only lightly here. The tastiest nose of the 10. Palate: unfortunately the age makes it a bit biting. Quite a bit of acidity and soap at the start. Still feels rather thin. The acidity turns salty and then to lemon peel before it becomes woody. Then cardamom and something resinous and grassy come in. Finish: resinous wood and grass. After waiting even longer, lychee appears. Ranking: N: 1/10 G: 10/10
Review by Johannes
The nose is really good, in complete contrast to the palate. A soapy off-note dominates here, which I find really unpleasant.
Review by Rowald Sweet Empire
Tasted at a private tasting.
Review by Jarek
Franconian Rum Tasting Gang, 2024-05-10, Saint James 25 AOC Anniversaire (thanks to Dom): The 2002 is one of the older releases in the range but can't keep up with the 1998 and 2000, which for me is not so much due to the cat urine note on the nose, but the very disturbing soap note on the palate.
Review by Martin Spooner
Not too bad on the nose. A pleasant orange note. On the palate, however, not really my thing. Tastes artificial to me with hints of cloves. It has its grassy note but definitely not my case.
Review by ilRummista
My favorite of the series, complex but balanced. A beautiful Saint James!
Review by Palo - V Poháriku
This vintage honestly didn't really fit my preferences. In my humble personal point of view, it feels a bit weaker even than the younger vintages from this release. Yes, it's got some nice flavours, but I am not a fan of the strong sourness on the palate. Still think it is a good piece worth having a sip of.
Review by Pavel Spacek
This Saint James was definitely not Velier masterpiece. Just one common filling to co tinue the production.
Review by Alex Kunath
Unusual but very strong nose with really interesting notes, but on the palate, due to this strange soap taste, partly disgusting.
Review by Ayc
The complete UFO of the vertical. Blindfolded on the nose, one could surely think of a Jamaican, it's quite crazy... like a Long Pond Tropi without the glue/nail polish side even if there are slight esters. The (really) overripe mango stands out above all else for me, but it's very fruity (-overripe pineapple too, wrinkled passion fruit), an almost smoky/decayed side that would almost make me think very distantly (because much less intense) of the Teca 2003. It's crazy to have all that on an agricole. Sometimes out of nowhere you quickly find this Saint James woodiness, but it's probably because I know it. In any case, the wood took a good 20 minutes to arrive. The texture is mouthfeeling, it coats the tongue (borderline soapy but still pleasant) like the rest of the series we will always reproach this I don't know what a bit floaty/watery, on such beautiful profiles it's a bit frustrating. Unfortunately, the fruits from the nose are much less found on the palate even if all this remains pleasant. It's extremely woody, but the bitterness of the tannins remains relatively controlled. The finish is a bit floral on jasmine, peppery, bitterness carried by blood orange zest.. It's a rum I love for the experience it offers, but it is neither an example of balance nor elegance, quite the opposite.
Review by Adrien B
Nose seems sweeter, sawdust. Mouth lively, acidic, vegetal acidic. Not too soapy. A PM ddl side.
Review by Johan R
Interesting, slightly bear-like tones in the finish but perfumed again.
Review by Rumclub Latvia
Very dry Rhum. If you like wood integrated in spirit, leather, “bookshelf”, nuts, black tea - this one will be yours
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2002 at live auctions
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All live auctions ›Community shelf
19 bottles logged by 17 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
5% opened, 0 emptied.
What does Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2002 cost?
Community paid 15–199 €.
Current best price: 179.00 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 172 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
19 purchased · 63 tasted · 3 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2002
A Rhum Agricole AOC from Martinique, bottled by Velier, at 47%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
All releases in this series
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 1998
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2000
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2002
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2004
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2006
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2008
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2010
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2012
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2014
Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 2015
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