Aroma visualization from community tastings
Saint James 1885
Almost no one rates this purely on taste — it's a piece of history, distilled in 1885 and rounded by a century in glass. The agricole sourness is long gone; what's left is old leather, cigar, cedar, dried prunes and pure marmalade. Several tasters admit the legend lifts the score, but the layers genuinely keep you searching. A once-in-a-lifetime pour, not a daily bottle.
- Long complex finish
- Old leather, cedar
- A living legend
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How does Saint James 1885 taste?
Aggregated from 12 community reviews.
Historic 1885 agricole, leather and cedar Less a rum, more a moment of history. Old leather, cedar and dried fruit, long and harmonious. A few admit the legend inflates their score, but the experience is real.
Collectors and history-minded drinkers chasing a 19th-century agricole
Anyone wanting fresh, grassy modern agricole or a bottle they can actually buy
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
6 of 12 left detailed tasting impressions
How is Saint James 1885 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 8.8 sits in the “Very good” band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Live auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Rum reviews
0% rate it between 6 and 8. Selected write-ups from 12 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Lukasz
Legend. Your life is never the same after tasting this rum. I had this rum at Whisky Live Paris some years back and it was one of the best spirits ever tasted.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Yesterday we had a great evening in my friends man-cave. Lots of laughter and wonderful rums. The oak is also dominant in this one though not too heavy to damage the other elements. A great and heavy rum.
Review by Oliver
A piece of history. Intense and multi-layered on the nose and palate. A real experience!
Review by Benoit Bail
A very good rum for the time, we taste especially a moment of history with manufacturing processes different from those of today.
Review by Stefano Caroni
wenn man dem Jahrgang Respekt zollen möchte, kann man ihn etwas höher bewerten
Review by Tendero Pablo
My rating is due to the legendary nature of the bottle and the fact that I didn't have to pay for it to taste it. Otherwise I would have given it less...nothing to do with the exceptional Bally 1929. The degustative and rigorist side (snob that I am) of the taster aside, it's a moment blessed by the gods to be able to taste this legend for the last time...
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Who Rhum The World
Read full review →Expert review by Rum Diaries Blog
Read full review →Details about Saint James 1885
A Rhum Agricole from Martinique, distilled by Saint James, at 47%.
Community purchases
14 bottles logged by 7 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
0% opened, 0 emptied and repurchased.
14 purchased · 12 tasted · 14 wishlist · as of
About the Saint James distillery
The Saint James distillery is located in Martinique. Rums from Saint James have been reviewed 4,745 times with an average of 8.1/10.
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Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
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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