New Grove Savoir Faire Single Cask (Smuggler) 2008
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People who like their aged rum dry, woody and a bit challenging will find plenty here. Grapefruit and caramel lead the nose, backed by chocolate, raisins and a floral, varnish-tinged edge. The palate turns roasty and peppery with that signature Grays mint, then a long dry finish with roasted nuts and coffee. A few tasters find the tannins and a slight bitterness get in the way.
The community says- Roasty and complex
- Signature mint
- Keep in mind: Tannic and dry
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Buying advice
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Yes, if you're after bold, mature, oaky rums for sipping neat.
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The look inside the bottle
How does New Grove Savoir Faire Single Cask (Smuggler) 2008 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Dry, woody Mauritius single cask with a minty edge Most rate it a well-made single cask that rewards attention, though several flag it as too dry, tannic or bitter at the end — and a couple caught an off lacquer note.
fans of dry, oak-forward aged rum
anyone put off by tannin or bitterness
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
11 of 17 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
What does the community say?
17 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.
16 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 17 ratings, including those without text.
Review by cigares
Most helpful positive review
A rum tasted at the Lucerne Rum and Gin Festival in 2024 with friends. A lively nose with citrus (grapefruit) and caramel at the forefront. Behind, fresh wood, herbs, flowers, a slight waxiness, and varnished wood. The palate is a bit tight at first, but everything opens up with very beautiful complex aromas. A very fresh mouth with grapefruit, herbs, and flowers. The alcohol and wood play their part perfectly with an oriental perfume and pastries on the finish. A rum focused on freshness, fruits, herbs, and flowers, complex and addictive. A very beautiful single cask. But you have to drink it quickly; after opening and with oxidation, its beautiful aromas disappear quite fast.
Review by Mirco
Most helpful mixed review
Beautiful Gray DNA. Typical mint with citrus fruits, warm wood and spice. The dilution has unfortunately taken a lot of complexity out of the rum, it doesn't seem particularly balanced compared to the higher percentage CDIs.
Review by Tim
Nice harmonious Grays from Mauritius, but compared to New Grove Emotions somewhat weaker, although it has more percent. You notice that directly on the nose, which is a bit more reserved. Otherwise very roasted, vegetal, citrusy, chocolate bitter.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
For the assessment of the New Grove from Conquer (RX15335) used for comparison (see also there): The Smuggler appears not only a bit stronger on the nose but also on the palate with a hefty, almost overflowing portion of mint and roastiness. For me, it is closer to a TDL (2001, 2003) than to the New Grove from Conquer of the same distillation year or generally to the typical New Grove style. Perhaps an interesting comparison would be with a TDL from 2001, for example with the Rasta Morris.
Review by LukaŽiga
8,4:On the nose, the first impression we get is fruity in hand with woody notes, as we notice dried fruits like raisins, dates and citrus like grapefruit.The wood is roasted with caramel and nuts, perhaps a hazelnut, later chocolate, as a molasses is dark with black tea. On aeration, more spiciness arises, especially vanilla, vegetal molasses with flowery and herbaceous touch, from fruits some berries. 8,1:On the palate, the attack is at first mostly woody with roasted nuts, caramel, with some spices like pepper, fruits poping up slowly with grapefruit and raisins, when well rested with peaches.I don't prefer tannins this time, spoiling the rum balance, the molasses is strong with herbaceous, flowery and vegetal notes, some polish flows underneath. 8,2:The finish is long, dry, pretty dark with roasted tones with coffee, nuts and chocolate, darker molasses with black tea and floral touch, from fruits grapefruit lingering on..
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Phew... So the nose is not particularly inviting. Even after some time breathing, this very chemical lacquer note doesn't want to go away. Behind that, confusing nut nougat (Nutella), black pepper and raisins. Taste-wise relatively alcoholic even though it only has 50% (to me that suggests a failed dilution...) and overall just not very rounded. Here again this lacquer chemical note comes through quite persistently and bothers me massively. Sorry but this one failed for me. You can drink it but it just doesn't match my taste of what I like in Mauritius rums. Seems like something went wrong here.
Review by Basti
n the nose the typical Grays DNA with apricot/peach, caramel, vanilla, spicy aromas and some wood and floral notes. Quite round and drinkable on the palate, but overall a little thin/watered down. Good easy sipper.
Review by Frank
On vacation I have time to train for the next GRF. A flavor-rich New Grove is perfect for that. Nose: so much going on. Very fruity-spicy-floral. Tropical fruits like papaya, passion fruit and some coconut come together with banana, apricot and cherry. The sweet-sour is wrapped with yogurt and fruit bread. Also has something of candied lemon and orange peel. Fine spicy aromas of nutmeg, vanilla and unclear but pleasant baking spices. Fragrant cherry wood rounds it off. Clearly, I like this variety. 8.7 Palate: initially more spice. Nutmeg, caraway, slight clove and a bit salty. Again the passion fruit, this time more bitter fruit, bitter orange and bergamot and lots of lovely mirabelle plum. The wood barrel comes in at the back. A bit stronger than the nose, it’s quite fun. 8.3
Review by Michael Schillheim
Tonight I tried the 3rd New Grove from the "Farmer's palate set." Thanks again for that, Gunnar.🫶 Unfortunately, for me, this is the weakest bottling from the set. Initially, on the nose, chemical lacquer notes and alcoholic, which do not harmonize with the other fruity or caramel notes. On the palate, wood, grape, light mint, spicy-peppery and a little sweet. Unfortunately still somewhat alcoholic, which did not change even after 30 minutes in the glass. The aftertaste is really disappointing for me. It comes across very bitter, which is absolutely not my thing.
Review by TheRhumhoe
A rum that has much more to offer than it lets on. The nose presents a fairly complete aromatic bouquet with quite marked caramel notes that blend with pleasant floral aromas, fruits (dried fruits, citrus), varnished wood and mild spices leaning towards the indulgence of chocolate and hazelnut. It's very well made and enticing. On the palate, the fruity - floral - spicy triptych works well: notes of peach, raisin and citrus, a touch of menthol and seasoning of pepper and chili give an elegant and quite rich whole. The slightly roasted wood and cooked caramel complete this colorful and lively picture. The alcohol is well integrated. The finish has a nice length with a good balance of flavors: sometimes warm on chili, dark chocolate and roasted notes, sometimes fresh on vegetal notes and citrus, this rum knows how to awaken the senses on several aromatic registers. A rum that I think is a bit underestimated compared to what it really offers.
Review by Johannes
Beautiful tropical notes, typical New Grove profile, I like it very much!
Review by Rene Pfeiffer
A bit bitter on the finish.
Review by Master P
After a little time in the glass, more spice comes through, especially vanilla, vegetal molasses with floral and herbal hints, and some berries among the fruits. On the palate, the start is mostly woody with roasted nuts, caramel, and some spices like pepper; the fruit aromas slowly emerge, first grapefruit and raisins, then peaches after a while. The tannins don't please me so much this time as they disturb the rum's balance; the molasses is strong with herbal, floral, and vegetal notes. The finish is long, dry, quite dark with roasted notes of coffee, nuts, and chocolate, darker molasses with black tea.
Review by Schnubbii
Delicious. Among the various Savoir Faire bottlings, I haven't had a flop yet, and it's the same here. I would call this bottling quite typical, without any particular highs or lows. A very tasty drop with the typical Grays aroma profile. You can buy it without worries, but it doesn't reach the great bottlings for LMDW (especially the 2010s), the latter are simply more intense and complex.
Review by Harald
Reddish mahogany. Smell: Sweet rum, grapes, nuts, chocolate. Fruity and chocolaty with raisins and caramel. Taste: Slightly sweet and spicy alcoholic with caramel in the mouth. Very spicy when swallowing. Planty, peppery and woody. Only slightly fruity with raisins. Finish: Long, very spicy and woody. Old barrel. Dry and slightly bitter. Conclusion: A bit too dry and woody for me.
Review by Jo Hoo
10.2026: Comparative tasting 09.2024: Starts with a nice, complex aroma but fades after longer time in the glass. The alcohol is well integrated overall but the finish is a bit sharp and pointed. Aromatically, I agree with the other reviews.
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
New Grove Savoir Faire Single Cask (Smuggler) 2008 at live auctions
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5 bottles logged by 3 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
60% opened, 3 emptied.
5 purchased · 17 tasted · 1 wishlist · as of
Details about New Grove Savoir Faire Single Cask (Smuggler) 2008
A rum from Mauritius, distilled by Grays, at 50%.
About the Grays distillery
The Grays distillery is located in Mauritius. Rums from Grays have been reviewed 2,885 times with an average of 8.0/10.
To Grays ›Read on in the RumX Guide
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