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8707a770-779d-11ed-921b-094c385922bfMartinique Distillerie du Simon
HSE XO À La Française 2016 70cl bottle
Bottle
Rum Agricole · 6 years · 51,6%

HSE XO À La Française 2016

"Einer der süffigsten Agricoles," one taster called it — smooth and easy despite the 51.6%. Most people land on French oak, red berries and pepper, with the sugar-cane terroir coming through underneath. It leans woody more than grassy, dry with a slightly bitter, astringent finish. A couple of drinkers felt the wood tips a touch heavy, but the alcohol is well integrated.

The community says
  • Well-integrated alcohol
  • Oak and red berries
  • But: Wood can dominate
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The look inside the bottle

How does HSE XO À La Française 2016 taste?

Aggregated from 30 community reviews.

Smooth, woody agricole sipper at 51.6% Most find it a smooth, easy-sipping agricole with well-integrated alcohol and lovely oak. A few think the wood and spice run a bit heavy, and one blind taster was less impressed.

Perfect for

Agricole fans who like an oak-forward, dry sipper

Less suitable for

Anyone wanting a light, grassy agricole or avoiding tannic wood

Style & occasion

How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.

Which glass for which rum? The community guide →

6 of 30 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums

Recommendation

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How is HSE XO À La Française 2016 rated?

RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 8.1 sits in the “Very good” band. 93% 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?

73% rate it 8 or higher. 9 selected write-ups from 30 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.

Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓

Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Feb 2024641 reviewsGermany
8.2/10

Fine, palatable easy sipper. More on the slightly woody side than the grassy side. I tasted a pleasant red wine finish where there is none, but that speaks for the rhum. Alcohol very well integrated. Another quality product from HSE, they simply deliver quality at a reliably consistent level with their many releases.

Review by LawPotsdam

LawPotsdam
Sep 20235 reviewsGermany
7.9/10

Hard to define on the nose at first, then a mixture of fresh fruit, wood and spices. Pepper on the tongue, rather toasty and woody on the palate, then the sugar cane comes through. Long finish, goes into the nose, the pepper remains but does not bite

Review by Rowald Sweet Empire

Rowald Sweet Empire
Aug 2024414 reviewsNetherlands
8.2/10

French oak in the nose. So slightly acidic. Fresh. Nougat. Berries. Varnish. So far so good. Taste: lots of wood(spices). Dry. Bitter. Paint. Molasses. Again a HSE with a bit too much wood. Astringent mouth feel. For me the nose>taste.

Review by Alexander Rasch

Alexander Rasch
Oct 2023305 reviewsGermany
8.5/10

Very nice Agricole with a lot of wood influence. Beautiful red fruit on the nose. Dry on the palate and slightly astringent on the finish. I like it very much. Priced a little high.

Review by Carlitooo

Carlitooo
Aug 2023142 reviews
8.5/10

Einer der süffigsten Agricoles für mich, unglaublich geschmeidig und einfach lecker. Selten so gut eingebundene Prozente gehabt.

Review by Buddudharma

Buddudharma
Jan 2024514 reviewsGermany
8.1/10

Schöner, süffiger Agricole, jedoch ohne herausragende Eigenschaften.

Review by Johannes

Johannes
Aug 20232,882 reviewsGermany
8.1/10

Alkohol sehr gut eingebunden, guter easy sipper!

Review by Oliver

Oliver
Jul 20231,197 reviewsGermany
8.4/10

Great XO! Alcohol very well integrated.

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Market value

Avg. community purchase price 127 €

What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.

How we calculate this →

Details about HSE XO À La Française 2016

A Rhum Agricole AOC from Martinique, distilled by Distillerie du Simon, at 51,6%.

CountryMartinique
BrandHSE
CategoryRhum Agricole AOC
DistillationCreole Column
ABV51,6%
Volume70cl
Age6 years
Vintage2016
Limited edition900 bottles

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Community purchases

74 bottles logged by 56 collectors.

A collector's bottle.

5% opened, 1 emptied and repurchased.

70 sealed 3 open 1 emptied

What did the community pay for HSE XO À La Française 2016?

Community paid 92–139 €.

What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →

74 purchased · 30 tasted · 11 wishlist · as of

Read on in the RumX Guide

Distillerie du Simon

Distillery

Distillerie du Simon 

Avg Rating 8.0/10 over 330 Rums

Le Simon is Martinique's ghostwriter. It is the island's most technologically advanced distillery, yet it sells no rum under its own name, runs no public tours, and ages nothing on site. Instead it distils two of the most beloved names in Martinique agricole, HSE and, until recently, Clement, on stills moved here from their original homes. What you taste as HSE is, in fact, Le Simon.

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Rating guide

RumX's 0–10 scale is strict. Here's what each band means.

9.0–10.0 Excellent Stash as many as you can afford. Tell no one.
8.0–8.9 Very good your rum Bank a backup. Tell everyone you meet.
7.0–7.9 Good Buy one and recommend it to your friends.
6.0–6.9 Pleasant Solid, super glad I drank it.
5.0–5.9 Average Totally acceptable.
4.0–4.9 Drinkable Not vocally complaining.
3.0–3.9 Poor Wish I was drinking something else.
2.0–2.9 Very poor Nothing nice to say.
1.0–1.9 Unpleasant No, that's not for me.
0.1–0.9 Inedible Pour it out.
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