Aroma visualization from community tastings
Saint James Les Ephémères - N°1 2001
Sip this one neat and give it 20-30 minutes to open. It's a heavy, cask-strength Martinique agricole: roasted wood, dried apricot, prunes, nutmeg and leather, with fresh cane cutting through the oak. After 20 tropical years the wood is dominant but rarely tips into bitter. Many members call it the best of the Ephemeres series, and the alcohol sits well integrated for 55.2%.
The community says- Roasted wood, dried fruit
- Integrated alcohol
- Very woody
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The look inside the bottle
How does Saint James Les Ephémères - N°1 2001 taste?
Aggregated from 219 community reviews.
Deep, dry, wood-driven old agricole The clear favorite of the Ephemeres series for most tasters: deep, dry and woody with dried fruit and spice. A few find the oak too present, but praise is nearly unanimous.
Fans of old, wood-forward cask-strength agricole
Anyone wanting fresh, fruity agricole or an easy sipper
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
92 of 219 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
How is Saint James Les Ephémères - N°1 2001 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 8.8 sits in the “Very good” band. 98% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
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Community voices
What does the community say?
5% rate it between 6 and 8. 20 selected write-ups from 219 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
One of the community's most-rated rums
Review by Oliver
Very horny nose - really great Agricole essence! On the palate, despite its long, tropical aging, still drinkable and not too woody. Quite dry. Great mouthfeel. Absolutely recommended for all lovers of Agricole at cask strength. And that too at an unbeatable (issue) price.
Review by Dr.Django
For me, this is by far the best of the St. James Epheremes series. As with the others, dried fruits, wood, spices,... dominate here. Mint is also very present here. The whole rum is very dry, but that fits here. A really cool ageicole!
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
For 20y tropically matured this Agricole is surprisingly light, fruity and fresh after menthol, apricot compote and winter spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, and some cocoa. Wood is of course also very dominant taste but just long not as extreme as I would have expected. Really nice old cask strength Agricole!
Review by Leo Krüper
Very nice round Agricole. Everything is very coherent and harmonious without any major rough edges. The age gives a light eucalyptus and tea note without becoming special. Also great value for money on release.
Review by Jakob
Powerful Saint James, complex aromatic profile with nougat, present dark spices, bitter wood influences and dried fruits. Very good representative of the 2001 Saint James and a successful entry into the Les Ephémeres series.
Review by Johannes
Very good, wonderfully balanced, yet intense and complex Agricole!
Review by Thunderbird
The nose I find initially surprising and good! In addition to the classic wood and spicy notes I had perceived grated almonds!On the palate it then loses something, the spicy wood notes predominate , fruit is almost not recognizable!In the finish it is then classic Agricole!Had somehow expected more
Review by RumTaTa
Second tasting: Great stuff! I find the nose surprisingly sticky! Much more edgy and fruity on the palate than RX7259. The finish is consistent with a taste sensation.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Just got two bottles of this limited release which is the first of a series of four if I have understood it correctly. From opening the bottle the flavours just come at you and there was no doubt this was a good one. The nose is well balanced with wood and fruits from the start followed by spices and a wonderful roasted note. The palate is complex and also very well balanced, warm and woody with dried fruit, spices and spices and again this wonderful roasted note. The finish is long and woody with dried fruit and spices. Now this has me hooked on the next two releases supposed to be released in September 2022 (No. 2) and the final two (No. 3 and No. 4) in 2023.
Review by Frank
St. James, 20 years old, over 50%? This must be tasted.Nose: nice spicy-woody-fruity. Very intense and concentrated. There's the oak first, dry, almost dusty. In addition, dry vanilla powder and pleasant tobacco scent. Now comes a restrained sweetness of cherry and dried apricot. If you smell a little stronger into it there is some vinegar. Reminds then also of red wine. Palate: wow, decent acidity at the start, towards wood acidity. Immediately followed by a slight bitter note, which quickly turns into Agricol's typical grassy, raw sugar cane. Besides that, a lot happens... nutmeg and clove come together with aromatic cherry wood and strong sandalwood, again slightly the impression of red wine.Yes, this is a good one!!!
Review by BTHHo 🥃
This is the first rum in Cellar Master Marc Sassier's series, which celebrates the distillery's best vintages. After distillation, the rum was aged in November 2001 in 190-liter American oak casks, where it matured for 19 years in Sainte-Marie's cellars and was bottled on 13/04/2021. The taste is slightly sharp, woody and herbaceous. The aftertaste is resin and lots of burning wood with tannins. Long and very bitter.
Review by TheRhumhoe
The quintessential spirit of Saint James. This is a very well-balanced rum, juggling notes of aged precious woods, spices, chocolate, tobacco, as well as floral and pastry notes to create a complete aromatic palette. A beautiful complexity that carries through to the palate, with roasted, woody and spicy flavors, dried fruit and red berry notes, and a vegetal freshness. The whole is very harmonious, round and aromatic. The very long finish continues with the vegetal freshness previously felt, notably eucalyptus, floral and vegetal notes that brilliantly accompany the rest of the profile, fruity but drier, woody and spicy. A rum of unprecedented quality for an indecently low price.
Review by lukasdrinkinghabits
Whew! This is heavy stuff 20 years of tropical aging brings a lot of wood. A lot of wood, charred wood and with it dark spices, coffee, tobacco. Amazing: the vegetal aroma of the fresh sugar cane remains although we are more with the roots than the young shoots. There is no room for much fruit. Some sour cherry and a few dried fruits round out the profile.In the mouth, it is precisely these restrained fruits that are fully there! Fresh fruit continues to be sought in vain, but the wood soup becomes fruit compote with cherries and dark berries - which was forgotten too long in a cigar box 🤷♂️. The wood brings ample tannins and bitterness. Surprisingly light in contrast, the finish brings no new facet. A good rum, but not my profile.
Review by LukaŽiga
8,9:On the nose, the first impression we get is a pure agricole rum with mineral, waxy and honeyed sugarcane, dried, yellow fruits, some solvents and nutmeg. The wood is quite roasted with some chocolate, nougat, nuts and buttery with pastry. As we air it, vegetal flowery come out, dried fruits are caramelized, there is some creme brulee.The cane, fruits and wood are nicely balanced. Later we notice some more charred notes with coffee, darker chocolate and citrus with an orange. 8,8:On the palate,the sugarcane is mineral, spicy, the wood roasted, dry.There are strong nutty notes, dried fruits and ripe banana. They are quickly joined with yellow and red fruits, the notes of sandal wood come out after nice rest, as nice spectre of vegetal notes like an olive, eucalyptus and flowery with geranium.Some confectionery with vanilla and pepper add to the variety and complexity of this tasty, balanced rum. 8,7:The finish is long, the sugarcane is mineral, juicy, spicy, wood dry and charred with dark chocolate. The fruits are yellow and dried, some vegetal notes flowery, with some eucalyptus..
Review by Giorgio Garotti
Complimenti a saint James che qui tira fuori un grande rum! Alcol perfettamente integrato, la canna da zucchero si fonde benissimo con i sentori di legno tostati.. Una delle migliori bottiglie della distilleria uscite ultimamente! Favoloso!
Review by mto75
decidedly delicious nose, with nougat, dried date and apricot, wood barrel and something that reminds me of butter croissant, framed by an unobtrusive floral freshness. The palate is very spicy, with caramel and sandalwood. This harmonizes very well with the already somewhat higher ABV for St. James standards. For 115 EUR here is a fantastic Agricole! Grab it!
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
For me, the best Agricole I have ever drunk (apart from a 51 Clemént). 😍
Review by Korkennase🥃
If the rhum is in the glass, it also immediately exudes its aroma. The rhum has a great color in the glass, which radiates warmth and conviviality. Beautiful how the rhum unfolds its full aroma with time and time should be given to him. Very fine bubbly in the glass. The nose is fruity, nutty, woody, you can smell vanilla, sugar cane, baking mix and some nail polish. The taste is dominated by spiciness, fruit, spice, grass, nutmeg, clove and wood. On the palate, the rhum is rather woody, earthy, grassy, spicy, nutty and rather dry on the way. A great bottling, harmonious, elegant all components support the taste and not least the overall impression.
Review by Rene Pfeiffer
Cross-tasting of the 4 Ephemeres Saint James: The 2001 is by far the best. Great balanced Agricole, which is the oldest in the group at 20y, but after the 2007, which is the youngest, tastes the least woody and bitter. 2007: nice, rather fruity, 8.3. 2006: bitter and woody in comparison, 7.9. 2005: balanced (8.5), but not as fine as the 2001 (8.9).
Review by Mike H.
Second tasting: Reducing my note from 85 to 84. A nice agricole that leans towards less vegetal and more woody notes which is a big plus for me. But I don’t get the hype about this series. This one certainly is the best of the three that have been released so far but I really regret running all through town to find a bottle.
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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 Préférence Rhum
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Details about Saint James Les Ephémères - N°1 2001
A Rhum Agricole AOC from Martinique, distilled by Saint James, at 55,2%.
Community purchases
429 bottles logged by 277 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
13% opened, 21 emptied and repurchased.
What does Saint James Les Ephémères - N°1 2001 cost?
Community paid 115–152 €.
Current best price: 295.00 € – above the typical community range.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
429 purchased · 223 tasted · 60 wishlist · as of
About the Saint James distillery
The Saint James distillery is located in Martinique. Rums from Saint James have been reviewed 4,748 times with an average of 8.1/10.
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Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
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