While Guadeloupe’s lovely rhum agricole still largely tends to live in the shadow of its kindred spirits in Martinique, one of the French Caribbean department’s rum brands has been working to change that: Rhum Longueteau. 

The Sainte-Marie product has been at the forefront of Guadeloupe’s rum offering of late, with a blitz of new releases, limited editions and special series, from the “Porsche” co-branded rum to, most notably, its lovely Harmonie Collection. 

It’s been a rather prolific few years, and Longueteau keeps churning out new rums and editions all the time. 

Their newest release is a relatively young rum called, simply, “Le Vieux,” part of the company’s new “Classic Collection.”

Colorfully bottled in blue and orange, Le Vieux is a blend of aged rums from both red and blue-cane varieties, the company says. 

There’s no specific age designation, but as it’s a Rhum Vieux it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of three years old. 

So what’s it like?

Le Vieux has an aroma of almond, brown sugar and vanilla. 

Its flavor profile is marked by notes of soda bread, marzipan and black pepper, with the faintest whisper of passionfruit on the finish. 

It’s got the slight edge you’d expect from a VO rum, but a bit rounder than you’d expect, a bit more grown up.  

It’s a clean, fun, vibrant rum, a solid sipper and a standout for a Planteur or a ti’ vieux.

Rum Journal Review: 90 Points