Aroma visualization from community tastings
Velier Arawaks Clairin Vaval 2020
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Most who taste it land in the same place: fascinating, but not for everyone. This unaged Haitian cane-juice clairin smells of crushed grass, brine and green olive, with a glue-and-ester note underneath and an odd tomato-paste twist several members flag. The palate is oily, herbal and unexpectedly cane-sweet at 53.5%. Loud, savory and unlike anything else — try a sample first.
The community says- Vivid herbal profile
- Green olive brine
- But: Very polarizing
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The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Arawaks Clairin Vaval 2020 taste?
Summarized by AI from 15 community reviews.
Savory, grassy Haitian clairin unlike any rum Members find it genuinely original and well-balanced for the style, but nearly everyone warns it's polarizing — the savory, olive-brine profile isn't for casual drinkers.
clairin fans and lovers of savory, grassy rum
anyone wanting sweet, easy sipping
Style & occasion: Fresh & grassySipping neatCocktails & mixing
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
11 of 15 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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Community voices
What does the community say?
15 community reviews
10 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 cigares
A rum tasted at the WLP. A fresh, expressive nose, with a vegetal, spicy and tomato-like quality. The palate has a supple attack and the fruit rises in the background, citrus and tomato. Everything is in balance. The finish is rather long for a clairin, with a lovely herbaceous and slightly smoky note to round off the tasting. Tasted again under better conditions and found it much better.
Review by Timo Groeger
A great clairin here. Beautiful vegetal nose. Herbs and olive are also recognizable. The palate is again very vegetal, with lots of sugar cane. The olive also comes through again and herbs are recognizable.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4546 13.01.2024 Relaxing at home. Also a pretty good release especially when looking at the price tag. Medium fruity and intense profile withe some greens, herbs and mint. The palate is oily and naturally sweet with a bit of mint. The finish is medium long with a nice floral note. There is a faint smoky note in the profile.
Review by TheRhumhoe
A clairin with a surprising but interesting profile. The nose is quite zany, ranging from grassy, earthy mushroom notes to olive brine, followed by spicy notes of chili and paprika, all reminiscent of a Bolognese sauce. There's a fermented side to it, reminiscent of lactic products. The medicinal notes of glue and solvents, overlaid by a touch of copper, make for a truly atypical, characterful blend. The attack on the palate is very interesting: sugar cane, candied fruit, butter and honeyed notes give a lot of sweetness to a rum that's supposed to be heavy and atypical. There's smokiness, spice, olive, herbs, polish and mineral, even copper notes on the palate. The whole is rather coherent and the alcohol is well integrated. The finish is fairly light, but lingers on notes of leather, spices, sugarcane and honey, with a vegetal, earthy and smoky background. A very good, original, complex, well-balanced clairin that keeps all its promises. It's best drunk neat, but can also be adapted to cocktails. Very good value for money.
Review by Philip M. 🇧🇪
I enjoy a Clairin from time to time. They are always interesting and complex, no exception here with Vaval. Very similar to Sajous according to me. Salty, grassy, meaty, olive,... Interesting stuff. It's not for everybody so would recommend tasting samples before buying a full bottle.
Review by akkisz
once again a masterpiece from vaval. not quite as spectacular as the 2022 which also smelled intensely of tomato but still salty, vegetarian, fresh with lime and sugarcane aroma and tasting vegetal. great in sours and ti punch but also neat.
Review by Emanuel S
Unlike any other spirit I've had before. Complex. Much going on. Intense.
Review by Léo Delek
Buttery, floral and banana notes with a slightly metallic finish.
Review by Nathaniel Bloch
Tasted among 5: Rocher, casimir, sajous, vaval & sonson. A nice clairin, on the nose glue and ester with some unriped fruit (apple,melon,banana). On the mouth, kind of a sweet-salty biscuit with herbs like oregano or basil. On the finish, medium-long, the continuity of the mouth but less herbs and more green olives
Review by Mc Pirate
What a discovery! The first nose brings out the fresh cane, but the second nose after oxidation brings out the tomato paste! Well-balanced palate with a rum that gives you a hug, soft and comforting finish, a very good rum. Too bad the one in the store wasn't this one!
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Community shelf
33 bottles logged by 26 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
24% opened, 3 emptied.
What does Velier Arawaks Clairin Vaval 2020 cost?
Community paid 40–53 €.
Current best price: 41.08 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 40 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
+9 purchases in the last 3 months.
Added to collections, last 12 months — dark bars are the last 3.
33 purchased · 16 tasted · 5 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier Arawaks Clairin Vaval 2020
A Clairin from Haiti, bottled by Velier, at 53.5%.
About the Arawaks distillery
The Arawaks distillery is located in Haiti. Rums from Arawaks have been reviewed 538 times with an average of 8.0/10.
To Arawaks →Read on in the RumX Guide
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