Aroma visualization from community tastings
Velier The Vieux Labbé (20th Anniversary) 1999
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Most tasters land in strong-but-not-blown-away territory: a dark, spice-and-wood Haitian that surprises people who expect a clairin. Expect burnt cookie dough, mocha, oak and dark sour fruit — cherry, blackcurrant, dried apricot. A few find the 21 tropical years push it "staubtrocken" and wood-heavy; others call it the best Haiti they've had. Rests open beautifully.
The community says- Dark fruit depth
- Mocha and oak
- But: Very dry, wood-forward
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How does Velier The Vieux Labbé (20th Anniversary) 1999 taste?
Summarized by AI from community reviews.
Deep, woody Haitian with dark fruit and mocha Widely loved as a deep, woody, coffee-and-dark-fruit Haitian that drinks nothing like a clairin. The catch: the tropical wood turns very dry, and a couple found the oak or bitterness too dominant.
Aroma profileExperienced drinkers who like dry, wood-and-coffee aged rum
Anyone wanting a sweet, easy sipper or expecting clairin funk
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
39 of 99 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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What does the community say?
99 community reviews
36 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Top 6% of Haiti rumsTop 10% at Distillerie de Port au Prince
Rate it in the app
Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by Jakob
Most helpful positive review
Intensely tart fruit, wood, spices. I like it, independent profile. Still somewhat incisive on the finish. Beautiful structure. Aromatic-intense to demanding, but quite appealing - has rightly found its fans.
Review by Giorgio Garotti
Most helpful mixed review
Very disappointed!The wood overpowers everything!A pronounced bitterness throughout the tasting!I will give it a second chance to see if the first impression was wrong!
Review by Dr.Django
I was very curious when it was released. It was impossible for me to get hold of a bottle without paying a ridiculous price. In time, the Hypetrain arrived at the station and I was able to get my hands on a sample. Very intense, on the dark side of fruity. A deep fruity woodiness With strong coffee notes. It becomes drier and tastier with every sip.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
This is a nicely balanced Labbé and I think the price is pretty good. Well balanced on the nose and intense and complex on the palate. It did need to rest for a good while before all flavours were released. Lightly fruity and I like the nutty touch and the licorice on the finish. The empty glass was really nice after a few hours 😊
Review by Thunderbird
An exceptional rum... burnt cookie dough on the nose, heavy sweet/sour fruits, wood, vanilla and licorice. On the palate, almost identical aromas plus licorice and roasted nuts. The alcohol is very well integrated. Something slightly dirty also appears on the finish This is a challenging rum and not necessarily suitable for beginners. I like it
Review by Leo Krüper
Heavy caliber. Too intense for me today. Camomile tea notes and old wood.
Review by Frank
Beautiful, intense and old rhum from Berling S.A., the other part of the Barbancourt family. Made from sugar cane juice/syrup but not actually a clairin, but a rhum. Nose: intense, concentrated, aromatic. Spicy, woody and fruity. Fine spicy wood aromas of sandalwood and cherry dominate. Dark, tart fruits such as blackcurrant and sour cherry come together with passion fruit, dried apricot and some blood orange. It is also creamy with vanilla, toffee and brioche as well as chocolate. It also has a light, malty smoky note. Very round and delicious. 9.1 Palate: clearly on the spicy and woody side here. Salty-bitter-peppery at the beginning, but immediately with a twist towards passion fruit and blackcurrant. Nutmeg and some caraway together with roasted aromas. Pecan and mocha. All very powerful without being unpleasant. The more than 20 years of tropical maturation are very noticeable in the woody aromas. I still like it very much. 8.7
Review by Joachim Guger
Very nice, deep color.In the nose viiieeel oak, licorice, cookie dough and earthy. Polish and solvent. Out the back a touch of dried fruit and cherry. Very powerful, bulky and dusty dry. Very good.In the mouth then just wood and spice.Nice finish, cookie dough, licorice and dried fruit.A few drops of water make it a bit creamier.Certainly not a lovely palate pleaser. 20 years of tropical aging make their presence felt.The woodiness is on the edge, especially in the mouth. I like it very much though.
Review by mto75
On the nose initially quite restrained. After some standing time then come old barrel and earthy notes, plus mace, mocha, fig, caramel and plum. On the palate, on the other hand, immediately present and intense with spices, barrel and an interesting interplay between some direction ginger spiciness and date, plus a very long, toasty finish. A class rum whose charm does not reveal itself immediately!
Review by Alessandro
Dark and intense color, in the glass at first very closed then aromas of wood and fruit. On the palate it starts pungent then fruit and wood, also licorice. Intense taste that opens up, not immediately, alcohol well integrated, a good rum.
Review by zabo
Edit: tasted again from the fresh bottle. Quite nice, but unfortunately not quite my preferred profile Didn't expect much from this bottling because it's not necessarily my favorite style. But the maturation in the cask did this bottling a lot of good. Perhaps I should pay a little more attention to this style in future
Review by Timo Groeger
Wow, this really surprised me, didn't expect to get something so strong in the glass. Lots of caramel and vanilla, but very pleasant. Also quite woody, but also slightly spicy/nutty. Alcohol very well integrated.
Review by LukaŽiga
8,8:On the nose, sugarcane, fresh with eucalyptus, oily, dark with licorice, barrel impact is strong with roasted wood notes like caramel, cocoa, roasted nuts, mocha, caramelized, slightly burnt, dried fruits like raisins and apricots, prunes, cherry, some varnish, bump into our nosetrils. On aeration, molasses is earthy, floral, dark with black tea, citrus fruits and currants arise, wood is a bit resinous, smoky, cookie dough, leather, burnt sugar, vanilla, join, very complex. 8,7:On the palate, the attack is fruity with guava, berries, currants, citrus and dried fruits, barrel impact is obvious with roasted wood notes like espresso, caramel, roasted nuts, slightly burnt, chocolate, spicy with vanilla, salty, peppery, sugarcane is dark with licorice, earthy with cigar tobacco, root, floral, oily, medicinal with varnish, complex 8,6:The finish is long, dry&tannic, a bit medicinal, oak is roasted with cocoa, nuts, crème brûlée, toffee, slightly resinous, spicy, warm, fruity with dried apricots, black berry, cherry, dates, citrus fruits, melon and guava, as sugar cane is dark with black tea, licorice, earthy with tobacco, root..
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Really nice, complex and full-bodied Haiti single cask. Impressive how little the wood comes through despite 21 years. Nice combination of blackberry, Medjoul dates, vanilla, tobacco, roasted nuts and dried apricot. Very harmonious and does not touch at any point.
Review by Jarek
A very tasty bottling from Haiti. Roasty, slightly burnt nose, plus coffee and dark, red berries. Similar profile on the nose, plus herbs, wood and sweetness from burnt sugar. Paid way too much for the bottle but still satisfied.
Review by Florent Apl
Tasted on the occasion of Whisky Live Warsaw 2025. On the nose, I first get caramel, followed by hearthy/herbal notes, moka and oak. On the palate, still caramel and moka, the oak is well balanced and doesn't bring any bitterness. Alcohol is also well integrated. It is a nice aged sugarcane juice rum that balances sweetness with a hearthy dimension that makes it more interesting. It's a nice rum, I think I would still expect more of a rum aged for more than 20 years. It's definitely enjoyable, but it's not an essential.
Review by Djehey
Edit: big sucrosity like caramel, burnt sugar. It disgusts me a bit. Haiti but definitely far from a clairin. We are rather on the British molasses rums but it also reminds me of a Bally 2004 with its tart red fruits and deep woody aromas. An astonishing note of roasted hazelnut is also present.
Review by DosenZorn
The nose clearly sets the direction here, which continues on the palate. Noticeable age without being bitter. Lots of vanilla, nuts, wood and coffee. Alcohol could be better integrated. Still a great rum, anyone who managed to get a bottle at release price can count themselves lucky.
Review by Mentalo
The bottling shows its age and tropical maturation. Plenty of wood but without being too bitter. Fruit notes, spices, nutty and some licorice root. The alcohol could be better integrated.
Review by SaibotZtar
Joa is quite okay... lots of dark notes... Dried fruits, sour cherry, mocha, a bit of licorice, chocolate, berries, coffee, and nuts. Easy to drink but nothing that will stay in my memory.
Review by Andi
Wow, very beeeeeery. Currants. After tasting it again, I stick to my first impression, very great fruity aromas reminiscent of a compote of berries. It is also very complex with wood and a cookie sweetness. A great bottling,
Review by Serge
Nice nose with lots of oak over a dry-earthy profile with caramel, cask and dried fruits. On the palate then a bit sharper towards the finish but still good. Definitely interesting and I like it.
Review by Michal Slávik
The best Haiti I've had so far. I like it very much.
Review by Gil Firth
Bottle. What an exciting bottle. This is rum as rum should be. I wanted it to be good but it's simply excellent. Like that, chocolaty, full, there are fruits and acidity of all kinds. All this blends perfectly with the dark sweetness and notes of coffee and wood. A real blast! Shows an interesting and rich profile from Haiti excellently.
Review by Tomas Hajlich
Yum! Very little alcohol detectable on the nose and confirmed in the taste. You can’t tell the ABV at all, I’d guess below 50%. Taste nicely smooth, you can taste cherries and a pleasant sweetness with a medium-long finish.
Review by rbfsnow
The best rum from Haiti ever !
Review by Michal S
Rich, layered rum, where I wouldn’t guess Haiti at all. In the nose besides burnt wood and coffee also cherries and licorice, in the taste tobacco is added. Overall a very successful rum, probably nothing for beginners, but an experienced rum drinker will enjoy it.
Review by Filip Šikula
Tasting calendar Pavel Špaček vol. 4
Review by Matej
This is something else. It has almost redish color (love it). In aroma I found some sweet scents (vanilla, cookie dough), cherry and I think butter (or heavy cream). The whole thing is complemented by wood and a very nicely integrated alcohol scent. Taste is again sweet (vanilla), but more dominated is spice, wood and some heavier flavor, almost dusty. I let the rum sit and after a while I also noticed nut flavor. Finish is long, woody and warmy with combination of vanilla. Never heard of this brand/rum until today. It is one of those rums, that is really a pleasure to drink. I recomended it, even for a rum begginers.
Review by Rhum Mirror 🇧🇪
Velier – The Vieux Labbé 1999 – 58.9% A tribute to Labbé Barbancourt, ancestor of the Barbancourt-Linge family. Distilled in 1999, aged 21 years in French oak ex-cognac barrels, bottled in 2020. In short: a high-end Barbancourt, Velier version. 👉 In the glass: elegant woodiness, vanilla, licorice. Surprising profile: nothing like the clairins, almost Guyana style (Skeldon / Albion vibes 👀). Cherry, orange, apricot, roasted finish. Honestly, I like it a lot!
Review by Solidfunk
Cherry and plum. Oak and caramel. The wood carries on pretty huge in the mouth. Pours dark maroon. There's a unique bit of chamomile in the mouth on the finish. Some pepper. Expected to like this a bit more than I did, but still quite good. Sample thanks to Yaro.
Review by martin slezák
Rx9146 Pavel Špaček calendar 2024 sample 44 Blind tasting Color dark amber Aroma sweetness, vanilla, wood, spice, caramel, alcohol Taste alcohol, wood, coffee, dark chocolate, spice, bitter caramel Finish wood, caramel, coffee, dark chocolate
Review by Pavel Ungr, RumRock
Vintage 1999. I rate 8.9 out of 10, excellent rum, which ranks high even among my more than 1,300 ratings.
Review by Olimpia1936
You can taste the wood, but it's nice 🤙🏻
Review by Adrien B
Dark and floral.
Review by MarkF
Great rum, polished, the aging has nicely come through. I wouldn't guess Haiti, maybe more Trinidad. I have to taste it again soon to see if the high rating is justified, but it really seems to me like a very, very good rum. Unbeatable from Haiti.
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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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Community shelf
75 bottles logged by 59 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
14% opened, 7 emptied.
What does Velier The Vieux Labbé (20th Anniversary) 1999 cost?
Community paid 80–210 €.
Current best price: 369.64 € – above the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 146 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
75 purchased · 102 tasted · 31 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier The Vieux Labbé (20th Anniversary) 1999
A Clairin from Haiti, bottled by Velier, at 58,9%.
About the Distillerie de Port au Prince distillery
The Distillerie de Port au Prince distillery is located in Haiti. Rums from Distillerie de Port au Prince have been reviewed 695 times with an average of 8.1/10.
To Distillerie de Port au Prince ›Read on in the RumX Guide
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