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J. Bally Millésime 1988
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Here's an agricole that leans more toward wood and dried fruit than the grassy zip you might expect from cane juice. The long cask time dominates: toasted oak, spice, prunes and a whiff of leather, with ripe peach and fresh cane juice underneath. Members love the oily, creamy mouthfeel and call 45% the sweet spot — though a few note the finish runs a touch short of what the nose promises.
The community says- Complex aged nose
- Oily creamy body
- But: Short finish
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The look inside the bottle
How does J. Bally Millésime 1988 taste?
Summarized by AI from 17 community reviews.
Wood-driven vintage agricole, gorgeous nose Loved as a beautifully aged vintage agricole where oak and dried fruit lead the show. The one recurring gripe: the palate and short finish don't quite match that gorgeous nose.
fans of well-aged, wood-forward agricole
anyone chasing bright, grassy young rhum
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
7 of 17 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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Community voices
What does the community say?
17 community reviews
7 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Top 16% of Martinique rumsTop 25% at J. Bally
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Ranges include their upper bound: “7–8” means above 7 up to and including 8. See the full rating guide
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
20.01.2007 Element Fresh, Xintiandi in Shanghai. This area of shanghai is beautiful with a lot of old buildings, at least it was when I lived in Shanghai. Notes. Medium dark colour. Lightly woody with dried fruit and plum. Nice floral notes in the profile. Palate is velvety and fruity with a light dry touch. Finish is medium to long with spices, wood, raising and light leather. The empty glass had nutts to it.
Review by cigares
Rhum goûté au GRF à Berlin en 2026. Un beau nez ample et complexe avec des herbes sèches et du végétal, pas mal de bois de chêne et des fruits frais et secs. La première bouche est puissante mais étonnamment douce et complexe. Il me fait penser au 1970 mais en plus riche et un peu moins équilibré. Y a-t-il un peu de molasse ici ? Je pense que oui. La finale est plutôt boisée mais avec une belle fraîcheur, équilibrée et longue. Tout à la fin une belle acidité fraîche.
Review by zabo
Tasted at Village'26 with Emilie at the Catawiki stand. For me, not the biggest fan of this style, but I have to admit I really liked this one. Thanks again to Emilie for the free dram.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Incredibly beautiful vintage Agricole. An extremely intense note of ripe peaches and mirabelles, light notes of lemon thyme, rapeseed honey, sharp cinnamon, and freshly pressed sugarcane juice. Extremely oily creamy mouthfeel. Super soft and complex and with 45% the perfect alcohol content. Beautiful piece!
Review by Skyfly
Messebewertung. Ein richtig guter Agricole der sich von der Masse absetzt. Neben dem markanten Zuckerrohr sind diverse intensive Gewürze, Nüsse und Kaffee omnipräsent. Begleitet wird dies durch leichte getrocknete Früchte.
Review by Tim
You can recognize the age of this rum right from the nose. Intense barrel aromas, wood, dried fruits, burnt sugar, vegetal agricole. Quite a complex nose to linger on. Spices and wood continue throughout; the influence of the long barrel aging is very dominant.
Review by Jarek
A souvenir from the Catawiki booth at the Nuremberg Village 2026. A tasty Agricole, where the nose excites me the most. The notes of dried fruits are rather in the background. Nose and palate are mainly carried by toasty, woody notes. Plus vegetal, grassy parts, of a properly aged Agricole. The palate and the somewhat too short finish do not quite deliver what the nose promises.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by The Dunder Hut
Community shelf
8 bottles logged by 7 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
12% opened, 0 emptied.
What did the community pay for J. Bally Millésime 1988?
Avg. community purchase price 286 €.
What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.
8 purchased · 15 tasted · 4 wishlist · as of
Details about J. Bally Millésime 1988
A Rhum Agricole from Martinique, distilled by J. Bally, at 45%.
About the J. Bally distillery
The J. Bally distillery is located in Martinique. Rums from J. Bally have been reviewed 1,436 times with an average of 8.2/10.
To J. Bally →Read on in the RumX Guide
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