Habitation Velier MHOBA 2017
For experienced palates who enjoy funky pure cane rums, this cask‑strength Mhoba is intense, buttery and fruity with gluey esters, honey and tropical fruit. Often compared to Hampden, it rewards slow, attentive sipping. Backed by 147 RumX reviews, it’s regarded as one of the standout Mhoba/Habitation Velier releases, combining youthful energy with surprising balance and complexity.
- Complex funky profile
- Great alcohol integration
- Pure sugarcane character
Details about Habitation Velier MHOBA 2017
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How does Habitation Velier MHOBA 2017 taste?
Aggregated from 150 community reviews.
Intense, funky Mhoba benchmark For experienced palates who enjoy funky pure cane rums, this cask‑strength Mhoba is intense, buttery and fruity with gluey esters, honey and tropical fruit. Often compared to Hampden, it rewards slow, attentive sipping. Backed by 147 RumX reviews, it’s regarded as one of the standout Mhoba/Habitation Velier releases, combining youthful energy with surprising balance and complexity.
Seasoned enthusiasts who love high‑ester, cask‑strength cane juice rums and want a funky, buttery, tropical profile reminiscent of Hampden but with its own South African twist.
Those sensitive to high ABV, beginners new to ester‑heavy rums, or drinkers who dislike bitterness and young wood notes in the finish.
How is Habitation Velier MHOBA 2017 rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.5 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 Oliver
Very exciting and unique. Funky, citrus fruits, sugar cane and spice. Extremely intense. Slightly smoky finish and pleasant bitter notes. Only the somewhat short finish prevents a higher rating. In the blind tasting, I put it in the direction of Fiji - rather atypical for MHOBA.
Review by Thunderbird
Exceptional! The nose is fruity berry, after English wine gum, with hints of mirabelle plum brandy and Piedmont cherry!On the palate a delicate sweetness of cherry...creamy and mild it spreads, later develops a slight smoky note and coconut joins..The finish is medium long with cherry and coconut ...I am thrilled...something new and m. E. very tasty
Review by Galli33
Here we have another successful pot style bottling from Velier! This was one of my first rums from the Mhoba distillery. A rum where you can taste the sugar cane very well, but due to the not well integrated alcohol it is only recommended for experienced rum lovers.
Review by Serge
Tasted with the French Cask. For me, the Habitaion Velier is just ahead. Because it's creamier and the alcohol is better integrated ... but it also costs a lot more and has spent twice as long in the cask. But for the issue price, I prefer this one ☺️ Update: Tasted again after a long time. The standard grows with experience, so a few points less, but still delicious and a great blend of funk, yoghurt, wine, vanilla and a little smoke.
Review by Giorgio Garotti
Mhoba really surprised me! I didn't know what to expect but it is a very good farm! Congratulations!
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Blind tasting. Had guessed HD. 🙈 Strong lad like almost all Mhoba brothers. I like very much!
Review by zabo
Mhoba Night. Für mich ein sehr angenehmer Vertreter. Sehr lecker. Alkohol finde ich gut eingebunden. Als Fazit ist vielleicht hinzuzufügen dass alle die ich getestet habe nicht schlecht waren, aber von der Velier Abfüllung hätte ich ein bißchen mehr erwartet. Dieser heb sich aber leider nicht wirklich davon ab.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
sehr intensiv und mhoba typisch funky und speckig rauchig. sehr komplex und außergewöhnlich und eine sehr gut eingebundene Fassstärke für ein so junges Alter! der french cask ist für mich aber dennoch deutlich besser...
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
A surprisingly good rum where the ABV is very well integrated and basically just adds a warm tingle in your mouth. Very fruity on the nose and I like the wood smoke finish. I hope there will be more like this one in the future.
Review by TheRhumhoe
A rich, opulent Mhoba for its relatively young age. The nose, extremely pastry-like, is focused on butter, yoghurt and cream, with hints of honey and aromatic flowers. Spices, wood and fruit then support medicinal notes on esters, solvents and glue. An exuberant, lively profile. The palate is intense, buttery, estery and fermented. Floral, honeyed and sweetened by cane and caramel, the profile is exotic but well-balanced. Ripe banana and warm spices line the palate, with smoky notes that are full-bodied and captivating on the palate. A hint of saltiness sharpens the aftertaste. The alcohol is well integrated. The finish extends the experience with bitterness, medicinal notes, glue, esters and candied tropical fruit. Spices (chili) and smoky notes are more discreet, but leave a delicious trail on the palate that lingers. A very fine selection by Habitation Velier, distinguished by its distinct aromas, liveliness and roundness.
Review by cigares
Rum Friendly Club Day 3. Plenty of esters, overripe pineapple, fermented herbs, tropical fruit and a certain freshness with menthol. Alcohol is (too) present on the palate, fruit rises and bitterness takes over. The finish is short, with bitterness and brown sugar at the very end. An explosive rum with a beautiful nose that lacks a little complexity, an intense palate with alcohol that's not very well integrated, and a disappointing finish. The empty glass has a very pure, clean nose.
Review by Jarek
Trotz fast gleicher Alkoholstärke wie der Mhoba 2017 Navigate World Whisky ist der HV Mhoba 2017 viel bissiger. Der Alkohol sticht deutlicher heraus. Nachtrag „Kleines“ Mhoba Cross-Tasting 2025: Mit der Zeit wird er weicher und weniger alkoholisch, gefällt mir jetzt besser.
Review by Alex1981
Woah, this is intense. With some water it opens up to sugar cane, zest, citrus, funky esters, some rotten fruits. Smoky finish. Great for the young age! //update: still very intense, but good. Need to be in the right mood to enjoy ;)
Review by Martin Augustin
Ein großartiger Rum aus Südafrika. Er hat eindeutig gehörig Funk. Vergleichbar mit einem Hampden. Dennoch schmeckt man auch Zuckerrohr, Rosinen und getrocknete Aprikosen spät im Abgang. Für die Stärke und vor allem die kurze Lagerzeit erstaunlich mild, reif und komplex. Tolle Reise!
Review by Frank
Basically I find Mhoba very exciting. Here is probably the oldest bottling so far (with 4 years 😉).Nose: a little biting alcohol at the beginning, then it comes very fruity. Green apple, fresh sweet lemon with a slight plum note. Reminds me of a white wine or even calvados. Some honey and sesame come in. Becomes more rounded and pleasant.Palate: spicy-fruity, toasty with something umami-like. Grassy, sweet sugar cane definitely comes through. Again, associations with white wine and sesame at the back come easily the esters.Quite something of its own. I like.
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 Secret Rum Bar
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Expert review by Préférence Rhum
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Expert review by The Dunder Hut
"Not nearly as good as the faq plastic. But nethertheless a proper Habitation velier release. This is a glue delight in both the nose and the palate. I fear though it is hard to get mhoba in really excellent. Still a well done entry..."
Community purchases
275 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 42 members.
About the MHOBA distillery
The MHOBA distillery is located in South Africa. Rums from MHOBA have been reviewed 2,265 times with an average of 8.2/10.
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I'm Oliver — together with Jakob, Robert and Lukas, we started RumX in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
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