Aroma visualization from community tastings
Milano Rum Festival & Barmetro Bellevue 1998
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Anyone who chases old, dry, savory Guadeloupe cane juice will feel at home here. Twenty-one years turns it woody and roasted, with baked apple, dried figs, licorice and a real olive-and-brine streak running through it. One taster called the nose "well balanced between dark caramel, cacao, roasted notes." It needs long air time, and a few find it too salty and bitter.
The community says- Complex and layered
- Long warm finish
- Keep in mind: Needs long airing
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10 more payment methodsLive auctions
Offers & prices
No shop currently delivers to Germany.
Auction results: 187–211 € (11 sales in 24 months, incl. buyer's premium, latest 07/2026). How the range is built ›
Buying advice
These ship to you
Yes, if you're after bold, mature, oaky rums for sipping neat.
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The look inside the bottle
How does Milano Rum Festival & Barmetro Bellevue 1998 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Old, woody Guadeloupe with olive and licorice A widely-loved old Bellevue: complex, woody, roasted, with olive, licorice and cane. Give it plenty of time in the glass. A couple of drinkers find it a touch too salty and bitter.
Fans of old, dry, savory agricole-style cane juice rum
Anyone wanting sweet, easy rum or put off by salty, tannic notes
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
34 of 68 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
What does the community say?
68 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.
26 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 68 ratings, including those without text.
Review by Oliver
Most helpful positive review
Needs some time in the glass to breathe. But then you are rewarded with a fantastic Bellevue that you can smell and enjoy the whole evening. A clear recommendation!
Review by Cédric Meyers
Most helpful mixed review
The woody nose comes after a good 5 minutes of aeration, even the nuts. It's a pity that the mouth does not follow the nose. We have this spicy side which is quite present and which for me bothers me a little, to see by letting it breathe longer.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Quite excellent Bellevue, which attacks the Croesus of TWJ (RX12489) - and at least today and at least on the palate defeats it. The TWJ is simply unbeatable on the nose, but on the palate it is noticeably bitter, woody and dry, whisky-like (?), despite a very long ageing period (necessary!), whereas the Milano is really nice and drinkable and round. Now, unfortunately, I have to cut the TWJ from 90 to 88 points, the Milano gets 89, but who knows if it won't be the other way around next time ... Both are Bellevues at the highest level.
Review by Basti
Tasted together with the TWJ Bellevue 1998. I really like both on the nose with predominantly fruity and spicy aromas. Then liquorice, some mint, leather, wood, caramel and spices on the palate. I'm not really a fan of rum based on sugar cane juice, but I really like the two 1998 Bellevue :) After tasting again +0.1. Great rum!
Review by DomM
Nose: well balanced between dark caramel, cacao, roasted notes and (fresh) continental fruits. Excellent.
Review by LukaŽiga
9,2:On the nose, a great first impression with roasted wood notes like pastry, brioche, nicely caramelized, vanilla and banana, perhaps an apple, vegetal and flowery sugarcane. On aeration, the rum is fresh, fruity with dried figs, peaches and citrus, balanced, the cane becomes herbaceous, the wood spicier, smoky, creamy with cream toffee, dark with a licorice, coffee and a touch of menthol. 8,9:On the palate, the attack is a balanced, concentrated combination of different notes like roasted wood with dark chocolate, pastry, fruitcake, spices, salt, then perhaps baked apple, fruity with overripe banana, green, dried fruits, citrus and vegetal, herbaceous and flowery sugarcane with an olive, black tea, hay. 8,8:The finish is long, dry and tannic, the cane still vegetal with tea and earthy, the wood brings nuts, caramel, tasty pastry and crunchy bread, spices like pepper, from fruits banana still present, pear, we get some red fruits with sour cherry...
Review by zabo
Edit: Three Guadeloupe '98s tested against each other. My ranking today 1. Milano Rum Fest 2. the Rum Cask 3. Colours of Rum In contrast to the Colors of Rum I've had so far, this is definitely a step up. Balanced and drinkable, I'll be adding another bottle for myself.
Review by Jarek
Tasted the leftover sample today and I'm wondering whether I should look for a whole bottle or at least a few cl. The rum is more on the spicy, woody and smoky side. The fruit is there, but more in the background. Very drinkable and pleasant.
Review by Timo Groeger
And third to last, a really strong Bellevue. It has everything you expect from a great Agricole. It's very woody and spicy, but you can also recognize caramel, leather, olive, licorice, and salt here.
Review by Lot-NAS
Overall a really nice and complex Bellevue that demands some time. It has a Cognac-ish nose with some fresh sultanas adding to the caramelised banana base that I really like. Between 8.9 and a 9 but I tend to the latter, finding no off-notes. Thanks to zabo for sharing the bottle.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
This is a very tate bottle and I was lucky that my friend sampled a bottle. The nose is very well balanced with banana, wood, licorice olives and light menthol. The palate is complex and well balanced with overripe bananas, olive, licorice, sugarcane as well as salty with very light wood. The finish is very long and warm with banana and licorice.
Review by Thunderbird
Cross-tasting with the TRC Anniversary and Kill Devil. All three need a lot of time in the glass. Alcohol is very well integrated in all of them, The Milano is my favorite. Its creaminess and the aromas of caramel, nut and chocolate convince me the most. Some fruit also joins in later, the TRC and Kill Devil are on a par, with the TRC being the fruity one.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Basically a good '98 Bellevue with rather unusually strong salty and roasted bitter notes with lots of tannins. There is also green apple and pear, some citrus fruit and a little menthol. Overall, however, it is just a little too salty and bitter for me...
Review by Paul Christiaens
Verdict: great nose, very complex, roasted, fruity and woody. On the mouth it's a tad drier than the nose suggests, a bit less complex but still very good. 86 points Nose: eventful and complex. There are a lot of herbs and flowers to be detected, as if walking in the Maquis in Corsica. Then a great deal of old wood, cinnamon, parma violet essence, dark red fruit, cooked fruit, chocolate, and roasted coffee notes. Palate: a tad lighter than the nose suggests. Mainly roasted notes pop up, like wood from the cask, coffee, and tobacco. Then red and dried fruit, ginger, cinnamon, lemon zest, a hint of varnish. Finish: long, again roasted (mainly coffee and bitter chocolate) but a bit more on the dried fruit.
Review by Manuel
A really excellent rum for which I have to give 9 points. A very long and warm finish that sticks with you. Nutty, vegetal but also slightly sweet notes. On the nose influences of spices, bananas and olives. Glad I ordered a whole bottle right away.
Review by Beach-and-Rum 🏖️🌴
Wow, what a nice surprise. Great Agricole with a pronounced sweetness and very balanced vegetal notes. The finish is long and warm. In my opinion, the price-performance ratio is really great.
Review by ilRummista
A complex but balanced rum. Very good nose, open, fresh. On the palate pickled olives, ripe fruit and some woodiness but it's good woodiness. Round. Pleasant, enticing to drink despite the complexity. Excellent product
Review by Lada Hejda
Pavel Špaček's Advent calendar vol.5 amazing Bellevue
Review by Pavel Spacek
Bottle in CZ community advent calendar 2025
Review by Ysmir
Poured from a sample. First experience with old Bellevue. This is fascinating stuff. Very woody throughout, kinda wound up in the nose even with extended air, but then the palate opens up nicely. Menthol herbalness with just a touch of fruit. Overall, a very very nice rum!
Review by Buddudharma
For me, one point ahead of the TRC due to the slightly higher aromatic depth.
Review by Roman Lelek
TLDR if you can taste it, go ahead and don’t wait, it’s worthy trying. It really complex but very tasty. The color - usual - gold honey to brown - nothing special here. The smell- wood, dried figs and leather and dark smoky tones. The taste-astringent, woody and fruity tones and of course menthol or olive tones. Nice warm aftertaste with tones of plums and black tea.. Really good choice for winter long evenings…
Review by TGHansen
A lovely dryness yet round. Good interplay. Where cocoa / light caramel / freshness from a touch of citrus stand out.
Review by Filip Šikula
Tasting calendar of Pavel Špaček vol. 5 2025
Review by Oleh
At first quite a lot of glue in the aroma, but then it gets better. Olives, brine, smoke, baked fruits, herbs, wet charred wood. Sweet, with mint, something tar-like. Wonderfully enveloping. 22-22.5-22.5-22
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by Single Cask Rum
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Milano Rum Festival & Barmetro Bellevue 1998 at live auctions
A bid is not a final price: the house sets the buyer's premium, shipping and any customs duty.
All live auctions ›Community shelf
25 bottles logged by 19 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
28% opened, 5 emptied.
What did the community pay for Milano Rum Festival & Barmetro Bellevue 1998?
Community paid 100–169 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 154 €. Price history with 11 auction results in RX+ ›
25 purchased · 69 tasted · 23 wishlist · as of
Details about Milano Rum Festival & Barmetro Bellevue 1998
A Column Still Rum from Guadeloupe, bottled by Milano Rum Festival & Barmetro, at 57%.
About the Bellevue distillery
The Bellevue distillery is located in Guadeloupe. Rums from Bellevue have been reviewed 1,463 times with an average of 8.5/10.
To Bellevue ›Read on in the RumX Guide
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