Aroma visualization from community tastings
Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996
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Best sipped neat with time and air, though even then it stays reserved. Expect varnished wood, licorice, yellow dried fruit and a caramel-cassonade sweetness, ending on a bitter, slightly medicinal note. Several tasters found the alcohol poorly integrated and the body surprisingly thin for a 27-year Guyana rum, with one calling it "nice, drinkable, but nothing extraordinary." A rum that doesn't live up to its Diamond-Versailles label.
The community says- Dried apricot notes
- Caramel and licorice
- Keep in mind: Harsh alcohol integration
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The look inside the bottle
How does Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Light, spirity old Guyana that underdelivers Most people came away let down: light, spirity and closed, with a bitter finish and alcohol that never settles. Pleasant enough, but far short of what 27 years should give.
Guyana rum collectors curious about an atypical, lighter Diamond-Versailles blend
Anyone expecting the depth and body of a proper 27-year Demerara
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
8 of 24 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
Buying advice
Is it right for you?
Yes, if you're after bold, mature, oaky rums for sipping neat.
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What does the community say?
24 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.
11 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 24 ratings, including those without text.
Review by jems5
Most helpful positive review
Nose of yellow fruit withered in the sun, mango, papaya, nice attack, fairly round, warm brown sugar, alcohol finish, but nicely coated.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Most helpful mixed review
#4122 This one was a huge disappointment. The overall profile is not very well balanced and I wonder if they just had to do a quick set this time? Had expected way more from this set 😮
Review by cigares
A rum tasted at WLP. The alcohol stings a bit on the nose and the aromas struggle to express themselves, varnished wood and fermented yellow fruits. The mouth is more balanced than the nose, ample with caramel and prunes. You almost feel crystallized brown sugar on the sides of the tongue. The finish is a bit too bitter but with beautiful fruits.
Review by Mirco
Interesting Versailles with a slightly different expression. On the nose wood, herbs, wax and a light, dark fruit. On the palate dry and spicy with oak, licorice and a tart, slightly bitter note. Seems well matured and structured, but not quite as deep or complex as you would hope for given the age and origin. Solid, but not a highlight.
Review by Rowald Sweet Empire
Very old diamond with a very low average rating. Curious what's up with that. N: sort of Port Mourant-ish. Aniseed. Light. Sugarcane. Light woodiness. Green apple. Not brilliant. Very dense and closed. T: strangely thin and spirity. Litchi. Pretty strong and alcoholic. Not at all typical Diamond flavours and for sure a lot younger in taste. I would not have bottled this. It has a few interesting flavours but it's also a tad too hot and light to make it interesting enough
Review by TheRhumhoe
Terrible disappointment for Valinch & Mallet. A vintage blend between Diamond and Versailles raised many hopes, but no way. We are faced with a very reserved rum, struggling to open up with wood, vanilla, licorice, dried fruits, and herbal notes. The shyness is even more obvious on the palate. Spices, wood, caramel, dried fruits, and light lemon zest face a disconcerting bitterness and a very limited length. No punch in the flavors on the palate. Moreover, the integration of the alcohol could be improved. The finish lacks length and suffers from the lack of aromas expressed on the nose and palate. There is a medicinal side on plants and tobacco, but the constant remains clear: a terrible continental blend that is not worth its price and tarnishes the image of a bottler who used to deliver better.
Review by Jakob
Diamond and Versailles 1996 naturally arouse the highest expectations - which are not met here, partly because this is a completely different rum in terms of type. Trying to ignore these (unfair) expectations, the rum certainly has something going for it, but reminds me of a blend of a young continental aged Guyana rum with a somewhat older Versailles. However, I would have thought the 27 years impossible blind. Okay, but not any more.
Review by Righrum
Another disappointing pick. Not a bad rum, indeed, but nose is really closed and on the mouth it's pleasant but you expect much more complexity and also a bit of "intensity" with such a long ageing
Review by Johannes
Too bad, very disappointing. Despite the age, the alcohol is not well integrated and the rum tastes very much like neutral alcohol.
Review by Rhum Mirror 🇧🇪
🥃 Valinch & Mallet – Guyana 1996 – 52.6% Blend of Diamond & Versailles, distilled in 1996, 27 years of continental aging, cask no. 12, bottled in 2023. On paper: heavy hitter. In the glass: ouch… big disappointment 😬 Blind, you’d never guess a 27-year-old rum. The profile feels more like a young Guyanese poorly handled, with alcohol too present and not well integrated. Overall it’s bland, crushed by a caramel candy note, lacking depth and character. ➡️ Very far from the label’s promises.
Review by Pavel Spacek
Nice, drinkable, but nothing extraordinary
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 Tasting Bro's
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Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996 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
8 bottles logged by 7 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
25% opened, 2 emptied.
What does Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996 cost?
Avg. community purchase price 256 €.
What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.
Current best price: 226.18 €.
8 purchased · 25 tasted · 1 wishlist · as of
Details about Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996
A Pot Still Rum from Guyana, bottled by Valinch & Mallet, at 52,6%.
How do you read a Diamond bottle? The RumX guide ›
Read on in the RumX Guide
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