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Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 1998
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Agricole drinkers who want age and roundness rather than raw cane will find their bottle here — tasters kept picking the 1998 as the best of Velier's Saint James run. Twenty years in wood shows: nougat, caramel and cocoa on the nose, dried figs and prunes on the palate, with citrus and hay keeping it lively. The finish turns dry, tannic and long. At 47% a few felt the oak leans a touch too present.
The community says- Well-balanced age
- Dried-fruit depth
- But: Oak turns dominant
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The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 1998 taste?
Summarized by AI from 67 community reviews.
Rounded, woody old Martinique agricole The favourite of the series for most who tasted the full set — rounded, complex mature agricole with no off-notes. A few wanted a bit more punch than 47% gives.
agricole fans who like mature, woody profiles
anyone wanting fresh, grassy young agricole
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
24 of 67 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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Community voices
What does the community say?
67 community reviews
21 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
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Ranges include their upper bound: “7–8” means above 7 up to and including 8. See the full rating guide
Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Most helpful positive review
Compared to the 2002 this one is far lighter overall and it's my number two of these 10 releases. A light fruity profile with fruits ans some cinnamon and light wood. An elegant and well rounded old rum.
Review by zabo
Most helpful mixed review
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 Serge
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 Jakob
In the nose wonderful melting of nougat, vanilla and caramel, plus oak and cocoa and green notes of hay and citrus. An aromatically coherent profile on the palate as well, but lacking the final balance, as the alcohol is a bit too present for me given the reduced strength. Nevertheless, my favorite of the series.
Review by LukaŽiga
8,4:On the nose, the first impression is fresh with flowery sugarcane, banana and roasted wood notes like nuts, caramel and cocoa, slightly spicy and balanced. On aeration, there is some hay, green, dried fruits arise, lemon and lime peel, nougat, pastry and licorice. 8,5:On the palate, the attack is tasty with sweet sugar cane honey, flowery, the wood is roasted with caramel, nuts, pastry, spicy with cinnamon, vanilla, pepper and a bit salty.Our tasting buds are attacked with dried, citrus and tropical fruits, the cane becomes herbaceous. 8,5:The finish is long, dry and tannic, slightly medicinal with some rubber, as the cane is flowery, grassy, honey is sweet, the wood still roasted with chocolate, confectionery, caramel, slightly smoky and spicy.Variety of fruits are present like grapes, prunes, dried figs, lime and tropical fruits...
Review by Joachim Guger
Caramel, nutty, dried fruits. A very nice, round nose. Very well balanced. Great mouthfeel. Now woody and sparkling citrus fruits. Drinkable. Long finish. The prototype of a mature Saint James and one of the better ones in the series. Conclusion: The younger vintages of the Velier series are not much. The soapy notes, which I otherwise know from no Saint James, spoil the profile. The older vintages are then very good, but this quality is now standard for Agricoles. Very good drinking strength chosen. In the end, this series is not a big hit, it will disappear on collectors' and investors' shelves.
Review by Giorgio Garotti
Typical Saint James profile! Excellent quality of the sugarcane and it is very noticeable! A very marked note of citrus and herbs throughout the tasting! In my opinion, the 47 degrees bring out the aromatic part of the barrel a bit too much, but it gives it an extraordinary drinkability! I expected a bit more, after tasting countless bottles of SJ, the older vintages have a bit more kick!
Review by Timo Groeger
This set has been waiting for a while to be tasted. Starting with the oldest. Solid Saint James. Wood, caramel and nougat on the nose, on the palate it then has a slight sweetness, again wood, caramel and some vanilla.
Review by Frank
Great VSGB Vertcal live tasting by and with Luca Gargano. 22.10.2022, 17:11. 75% Angel Share! No 1998 barrels left! Nose: elegant, full-bodied and aromatic. Spicy, woody, fruity, sweet. Old blood orange and light acidity from currant to caramel and toffee. Plus fragrant wood and sweet, soft Danish licorice. A slight soapy note out the back. Very tasty and pleasant. Palate: briefly woody bitter, then linear rising acidity, woody acidity that flattens out with lemon and fades into resinous wood with sugar cane and hay. Seems a bit diluted at the back. Sufficiently intense for only 47%. Pleasantly woody, slightly too acidic. Place: N: 4/10 G: 6/10
Review by Pavel Spacek
This Saint James was definitely not Velier masterpiece. Just one common filling to co tinue the production.
Review by Oliver
Complex, creamy and not too much wood influence. Perfect alcohol strength. The highlight of the series for me.
Review by Johannes
Rather woody, but round, complex, no off notes, long finish.
Review by Jarek
Franconian Rum Tasting Gang, 2024-05-10, Saint James 25 AOC Anniversaire (thanks to Dom): The 1998 was the one I liked best from the whole range. Fruit, spice and wood nicely balanced. And none of the soapy note found in many of the range.
Review by ilRummista
A great Saint James, complex although you can sometimes feel the wood a bit.
Review by Rowald Sweet Empire
Tasted at a private tasting. Very old and delicate.
Review by Johan R
Liked this one. Tired but nice.
Review by Roberto Bessa Ferreira
Excellent Saint James with lots of chocolate, vanilla, fruity, really a lot of wood and a long palate.
Review by Palo - V Poháriku
Similar to the Saint James 2000 from this release, the 1998 delivers a lot darker and sweeter flavours. The fresh fruity side present in vintages from 2002 and above is converted to really dark and sweet dried fruits here.
Review by Rumclub Latvia
Amazingly soft to me.
Review by Pavel Ungr, RumRock
Vintage 1998. With 8.3 out of 10, it's a very good bottle, although not the top of my ranking.
Review by Adrien B
Palate: beautiful concentrate, spicy on the gums, also fresh Very beautiful profile, very noble
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Community shelf
24 bottles logged by 21 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
8% opened, 0 emptied.
What did the community pay for Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 1998?
Community paid 16–200 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 192 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
24 purchased · 69 tasted · 8 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier Saint James Sélection exclusive Velier 1998
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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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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