Bellevue Kill Devil (The Whisky Barrel) 1998
For experienced palates: a powerful 20‑year Bellevue agricole-style Guadeloupe rum with smoky wood, rubber, dark fruits and mint. At cask strength it’s oily, warm and complex, highly praised by RumX regulars.
- Deep complexity
- Long spicy finish
- Oily mouthfeel
Details about Bellevue Kill Devil (The Whisky Barrel) 1998
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How does Bellevue Kill Devil (The Whisky Barrel) 1998 taste?
Aggregated from 59 community reviews.
Complex smoky Bellevue heavyweight For experienced palates: a powerful 20‑year Bellevue agricole-style Guadeloupe rum with smoky wood, rubber, dark fruits and mint. At cask strength it’s oily, warm and complex, highly praised by RumX regulars.
Seasoned enthusiasts who enjoy intense, smoky-woody agricole-style rums with rubber, dark fruit and mint notes at full cask strength.
Beginners or those sensitive to high ABV and tannic oak who prefer soft, sweet, easygoing rums.
How is Bellevue Kill Devil (The Whisky Barrel) 1998 rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.7 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 98% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Joachim Guger
Very, very complex. Warm rubber, lots of cassis, smoky. Full. Super mouthfeel and very well integrated alcohol.
Review by Galli33
Really a great rum! Nose: Fruity, Cherry, licorice, banana, smoky, minty & black tea with a hint of yellow habaneros (without the spiciness) Palate: Grape fruit, licorice, dark chocolate, black tea, minty Finish: Long and dry with notes of chocolate, anise, licorice, black tea, smoky. Unfortunately, the 2nd and last place of my Bellevue tasting.
Review by DomM
Nose: heavy, darker, more dried fruits and backing spices. Excellent. Palate: excellent balance between wood, roasted nuts and dried fruits. Very nice.
Review by Mike H.
87 points. A very nice Bellevue, one of the best that I have sampled so far. I love the nose, lots of fruit in addition to rubber, some wood and spices. The rum is very nice on the palate as well, a little less fruit but more spices.
Review by Thunderbird
The third in today's '98 Bellevue tasting and for me the winner. It has the greater complexity. In addition to the classic fruit/spice aromas, it also contains something smoky, dirty and red fruits. I really like this one
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Limited to a mere 243 bottles, this one is better than the 18 year old.The nose is very well balanced and kind of heavy with a tad of smoke. The rubber and spicy side of Guadeloupe is definitely there and so is the fruitiness.The palate is sweet and heavy/thick and it draws nice curtains in the glass. Oily with mint and pepper followed by spices and smoky wood. Spicy kick there as well.The finish is medium long to long with pepper, oak and smoke.
Review by cigares
Un nez clairement agricole avec des herbes sèches, du fermenté et de la vieille corde végétale. Un côté sale aussi à la Caroni avec du caoutchouc, bouée en plastique et même un peu de goudron. Des fruits aussi, ananas et pomme. Un rhum tout à fait complexe et à mon goût jusqu’ici. La première bouche est un peu piquante, épicée et poivrée avec un alcool très bien intégré. Le boisé (cèdre) est plus marqué qu’au nez et un côté fumé y est aussi plus perceptible. On y retrouve les fruits et le côté agricole. Le caoutchouc et le goudron sont présents et donnent de la profondeur. La finale est très longue avec toujours ce côté Caroni qui avec le bois se prolonge très longtemps. Un rhum tout à fait étonnant, comme si on avait ajouté 10-15% de Caroni. J’aime beaucoup même si la bouche est un petit peu déçevante.
Review by Rhum Mirror 🇧🇪
The nose is fat and earthy. There is some licorice and olive notes. It is rather fresh and powerful. We validate, let's go to the tasting! In mouth the attack is warm. The fruity of the nose is found (plum, date ...) as well as caramel and tar. The finish is rather complex on woody and orange. It is really nice this Guadeloupe! Nice selection but less greedy and below the Nobilis tasted a few days ago.
Review by zabo
Very nice representative of Bellevue. From memory, it can easily keep up with its competitors from the '98 vintage. Unfortunately I got it too late to be able to take part in the crosstasting. A very good representative.
Review by Jarek
Very interesting and tasty profile. I like it very much.
Review by Johannes
A decidedly good Bellevue!
Review by Buddudharma
Beautiful representative of the incredibly great 1998 Bellevue vintage. Beautifully balanced, with a focus on wood and spice. Pleases...
Review by Mirco
Rauchige und holzige Noten verbinden sich mit dunklen Fruchtanklängen wie Johannisbeeren und Cassis und einem deutlich minzigen Touch. Der Alkohol ist elegant eingebunden, das Mundgefühl ölig und wärmend. Das Finish bleibt lang und würzig mit Pfeffer, Eiche und einem Hauch Rauch im Abgang.
Review by Basti
Messebewertung GRF14
Review by Jackie Flannery
Blindtaste: Two 1998 vintage Bellevues. Kill Devil 20yrs 58,6% (exclusively for TWB) Rum Artesanal 24yrs 59,4% C: - (used a painted copita) N: 5min. This is the Kill Devil. Easy too! Elegant and vegetal. Alcohol is still not settled but I also get peach marmalade. 20min. Now! Sliced tinned peaches in dense and extra sweet syrup. Fresh medium strong coffee. Can it get better? Yes, fumes of petrol too. Lovely nose! I also get lemons, but not even close to the Rum Artesanal levels. M: There is two flavours that battles for supremacy. The coffee and, listen to this, burn dense peach syrup. All so very sweet. Good taste but the nose is so good! F: Long full of coffee and veggies. B: Maybe. Ridiculous price though. Btw I think the hype behind the 1998 Bellevue vintage is thanks to Serge.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Single Cask Rum
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Expert review by The Auditor Reviews
"This is a very good rum. It has those notes I like in really old rums, that nuttiness, a bit of star anise, some fruits. However, compared to other rums in this style, it feels a bit watered down. It gets brought down because its like a less powerful version of this flavor profile, but is still very good"Read full review →
Expert review by In Spiritus Veritas
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Community purchases
42 bottles logged by 52,000+ RumX members. The ratio of closed / opened / emptied, indicates whether this rum is meant to be drunk or is a collector's item.
Also on the wishlist of 27 members.
About the Bellevue distillery
The Bellevue distillery is located in Guadeloupe. Rums from Bellevue have been reviewed 1,359 times with an average of 8.5/10.
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