Aroma visualization from community tastings
Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996
Best sipped neat with time and air, though even then it stays reserved. Expect varnished wood, licorice, yellow dried fruit and a caramel-cassonade sweetness, ending on a bitter, slightly medicinal note. Several tasters found the alcohol poorly integrated and the body surprisingly thin for a 27-year Guyana rum, with one calling it "nice, drinkable, but nothing extraordinary." A rum that doesn't live up to its Diamond-Versailles label.
The community says- Dried apricot notes
- Caramel and licorice
- Harsh alcohol integration
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The look inside the bottle
How does Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996 taste?
Aggregated from 24 community reviews.
Light, spirity old Guyana that underdelivers Most people came away let down: light, spirity and closed, with a bitter finish and alcohol that never settles. Pleasant enough, but far short of what 27 years should give.
Guyana rum collectors curious about an atypical, lighter Diamond-Versailles blend
Anyone expecting the depth and body of a proper 27-year Demerara
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
8 of 24 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
How is Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 7.4 sits in the “Good” band. 66% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 4% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
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Community voices
What does the community say?
83% rate it between 6 and 8. 9 selected write-ups from 24 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by cigares
A rum tasted at the WLP. The alcohol stings a little on the nose and the aromas struggle to express themselves, varnished wood and fermented yellow fruit. The palate is more balanced than the nose, full-bodied with caramel and prunes. You can almost feel crystallized brown sugar on the sides of the tongue. The finish is a little too bitter, but with lovely fruit.
Review by jems5
Nose of yellow fruit withered in the sun, mango, papaya, nice attack, fairly round, warm brown sugar, alcohol finish, but nicely coated.
Review by Pavel Spacek
Nice, drinkable, but nothing extraordinary
Review by Jakob
Diamond and Versailles 1996 naturally arouse the highest expectations - which are not met here, partly because this is a completely different rum in terms of type. Trying to ignore these (unfair) expectations, the rum certainly has something going for it, but reminds me of a blend of a young continental aged Guyana rum with a somewhat older Versailles. However, I would have thought the 27 years impossible blind. Okay, but not any more.
Review by Rowald Sweet Empire
Very old diamond with a very low average rating. Curious what's up with that. N: sort of Port Mourant-ish. Aniseed. Light. Sugarcane. Light woodiness. Green apple. Not brilliant. Very dense and closed. T: strangely thin and spirity. Litchi. Pretty strong and alcoholic. Not at all typical Diamond flavours and for sure a lot younger in taste. I would not have bottled this. It has a few interesting flavours but it's also a tad too hot and light to make it interesting enough
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4122 This one was a huge disappointment. The overall profile is not very well balanced and I wonder if they just had to do a quick set this time? Had expected way more from this set 😮
Review by TheRhumhoe
Terrible désillusion pour Valinch & Mallet. Un blend millésimé entre Diamond et Versailles laissait beaucoup d’espoirs, mais que nenni. On se trouve en face d’un rhum très réservé, qui peine à s’aérer avec le bois, la vanille, la réglisse, les fruits secs et les notes herbacées. La timidité est encore plus flagrante en bouche. Épices, bois, caramel, fruits secs et légers zestes de citron font face à une amertume déconcertante et à une longueur très limitée. Aucun punch dans les saveurs en bouche. Par ailleurs, l’intégration de l’alcool est perfectible. La finale manque de longueur et souffre du manque d’arômes exprimé au nez et au palais. On retrouve un côté médicinal sur les plantes et le tabac, mais le constant reste sans appel : un terrible assemblage continental qui ne vaut pas son prix et qui ternit l’image d’un embouteilleur qui a habitué à mieux.
Review by Righrum
Another disappointing pick. Not a bad rum, indeed, but nose is really closed and on the mouth it's pleasant but you expect much more complexity and also a bit of "intensity" with such a long ageing
Review by Johannes
Too bad, very disappointing. Despite the age, the alcohol is not well integrated and the rum tastes very much like neutral alcohol.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Tasting Bro's
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Details about Valinch & Mallet Diamond The Spirit of Art Versailles 1996
A Pot Still Rum from Guyana, bottled by Valinch & Mallet, at 52,6%.
Community purchases
8 bottles logged by 7 collectors.
A drinker & collector.
25% opened, 2 emptied and repurchased.
8 purchased · 25 tasted · 1 wishlist · as of
About the Diamond distillery
The Diamond distillery is located in Guyana. Rums from Diamond have been reviewed 5,310 times with an average of 8.3/10.
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