Aroma visualization from community tastings
Velier Domaine de Courcelles Grande Réserve 1972
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Here's the surprise: 32 years in cask and barely any wood shows up. Instead you get a fruit bomb — cherry, strawberries-and-cream, peach, honey and vanilla, with a floral perfume note running through it. Several tasters reach for "Gummibärchen" (fruit-gummy candy) to describe it. Most adore it; a couple find the sweetness and perfume a bit unnatural for a rum this old.
The community says- Intense red fruit
- Well-integrated alcohol
- Elegant, complex
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The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Domaine de Courcelles Grande Réserve 1972 taste?
Summarized by AI from 34 community reviews.
Fruity, floral old Guadeloupe with little wood Beloved Velier bottling of Courcelles — intensely fruity, floral, honeyed, with the alcohol tucked away. Most call it their favorite of the 1972 series; a few find it too sweet and perfumed.
Fans of fruity, floral aged column-still rum
Anyone wanting dry, oaky old-rum character
Style & occasion: Sipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
16 of 34 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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Community voices
What does the community say?
34 community reviews
19 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Top 3% of Guadeloupe rumsTop 8% at Domaine de Courcelles
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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 Mirco
Most helpful positive review
Courcelle firecracker! 😊 My favorite of the whole Courcelle range, although the price difference makes me seriously lean towards the 3 alternatives from Switzerland. Wonderful rums which are balanced and very complex to enjoy.
Review by Dirk Becker
Most helpful mixed review
Exotic fruits on the nose
Review by Oliver
Wow, a real aroma spectacle. Cherry gummy bears, sherry and a great woody influence. Extraordinarily good!
Review by Jakob
The 1972 Courcelles vintage produced some of the most extraordinary and at the same time mysterious rums of the Caribbean. Distilled in January 1972, the rum first aged 31 years in the barrel, was transferred in 2003, and then received about another one and a half years of aging in a larger oak cask before Velier released it in 2005. Even more impressive than the age is the aroma profile: intense notes of cherry, red berries, orange, apple, and peach meet cinnamon, vanilla, and subtle spices. Added to that are almond, light coffee notes, and restrained wood. Compared to other Courcelles releases from the 1972 vintage, this Velier bottling shows the most pronounced fruit notes – sometimes almost reminiscent of gummy bears. The release date is long past, the bottles have become rare, and every remaining pour today feels like a piece of rum history. For me, this Courcelles clearly belongs in the category of outstanding rums due to its opulent and at the same time elegant aroma profile.
Review by Serge
Blind Community Tasting Courcelles 1972 by Jakob Extremely fruity and red fruits play almost the sole leading role on the nose (apart from the perfume). Great. Picks me up extremely. A little darker on the palate but still extremely fruity. Possibly with a few boiled ones. Vanilla, cinnamon and somehow sparkling. Above all, long-lasting and developing. Clearly the best of the bunch for me.
Review by DomM
Outstanding stuff! Overall clearly a couple of points ahead of the Rhum House bottlings (which are amazing as well). Intense and complex on the nose. Thick boild down fruits take center stage combined with a mix of Christmas-y spices, some chocolate, honey and an amazing perfume note in the back. Similar notes on the palate with a well balanced delivery. Very elegant. Top notch! Cheers Jakob for the set!
Review by Insta: spiritofbernard 🇫🇷
Just wow, the only downside to going over 90 is the slight lack of length.
Review by SaibotZtar
Excellent nose ... Crème brûlée, vanilla, violets, cherries, wild strawberries, ('cherry blossoms) sweet puff pastry honeydew melon ... wow !!! It gets more and more very cool . No alcohol at all on the palate ... here comes cherry, wild strawberry, pastry and slight sweetness through (somewhat flattened to the nose) Slight bitterness and blood orange . Great rum ... marvelous.
Review by Jarek
RumX Community Tasting - Domaine de Courcelles (thanks to Jakob) Four bottlings in the blind tasting, 2008, 2014 and 2022 from Rhum House and 2005 from Velier. We were quite unanimous about the winner of the evening, and how else could it be, it was the not exactly cheap Velier bottling (fruity, flowery, sweet). For me, this was followed by Rhum House 2014 (similar profile, more cherry than peach), closely followed by 2008 (very similar to 2014) and finally 2022 (less fruity in comparison, more spicy, slightly more alcoholic). But they are all very close together, sometimes more and sometimes less notes of cherry and peach (iced tea), honey or honeycomb and lots of vanilla. Very good stuff.
Review by Giorgio Garotti
Amazing the difference between this and the lower gradation! There is intensity and richness of flavors here! With a profile that stands out from all other rums tasted! Very very very good indeed!
Review by Manuel
RumX Tasting with 4 x Courcelles 1972 (RX1196, RX13308, RX5448, RX2650): The Velier was slightly ahead in the end. Best overall package with ingenious fruity enfluences. Many thanks to Jakob for the great opportunity.
Review by Johannes
Relatively cloudy in the glass. I hope the sample is still good. Nose: quite extreme, floral, buttery, vanilla, fruity, perfume. Palate: vanilla, butter, peach, baking spices, relatively sweet. I don't really know what to make of it. At first I was somehow positively impressed by the unusual taste. But gradually it became far too sweet for me and the aromas were too artificial and exuberant. Blindly, I would probably have guessed a plantation, slightly sweetened, with some kind of funny finish. Edit: I received another fresh sample. Nothing has changed in my assessment. The aromas of this rhum are simply too unnatural for me.
Review by Gianca Zil
Absolutely one of my favorite rums, that taste is smell "frizzy lazy " brings back memories of when I was a kid! Integrated alcohol , broad bouquet both on the palate and in the mouth , consistent ... absolutely in my top 3
Review by Righrum
One of the most amazing rums I've ever tried. Great complexity, dominated on the nose by strawberry and cream (big bubble anyone?) while in the mouth it's even fuiter and really expressive. No wood to be found here despite the massive 38y of ageing
Review by Beach-and-Rum 🏖️🌴
Wow, what a beautiful profile. This one totally hits my taste. Yellow tropical fruits meet a flowery honeycomb. On the palate the barrel also comes through a bit, although with such a long aging time you'd expect much more wood. Awesome rum, I'd love a bottle of it :))
Review by Adrianv
Very good rum, very elegant on nose, caramel, cherry, tasting this massive fruity bomb was a pleasure, sweet but not too much, balanced, royal taste... honey, chocolate, cinnamon. Finish is smooth, not so long and spectacular as I expected based on it's high reputation, but so elegant and smooth. Big thanks to Distilia guys for the sample!
Review by F.L.O.
Numero Tres. Even more nutty and above all toffee on the nose than number 2. On the palate, significantly less of it than with number 2. Really crazy. Alcohol well integrated again. The finish is sufficiently country.
Review by Joël
Full of gummy bears on the nose, already the best Courcelles.
Review by Carlitooo
For me Courcelles is an extraordinary profile. Yes, quite soft and harmonious, but way too artificial aromas, in the nose and on the palate they give a perfumed impression. Extremely much vanilla, lots of fruit, a present sweetness - is that still natural? Where do these sweet notes come from? Compared to similarly aged rums, the woody, bitter (typical for oak) aroma is missing. Therefore I am skeptical here... Velier gives me a particularly perfumed impression, although I otherwise appreciate Velier very much.
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Community shelf
20 bottles logged by 13 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
30% opened, 4 emptied.
What did the community pay for Velier Domaine de Courcelles Grande Réserve 1972?
Community paid 575–1,133 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 1162 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
20 purchased · 35 tasted · 38 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier Domaine de Courcelles Grande Réserve 1972
A Column Still Rum from Guadeloupe, bottled by Velier, at 54%.
About the Domaine de Courcelles distillery
The Domaine de Courcelles distillery is located in Guadeloupe. Rums from Domaine de Courcelles have been reviewed 242 times with an average of 9.0/10.
To Domaine de Courcelles →Read on in the RumX Guide
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