Aroma visualization from community tastings
Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale
Newcomers and cane-juice-curious drinkers get the most out of this Haitian oddity. Made from sugarcane juice yet it drinks more like a molasses rum — light honey, vanilla and cane sugar on the nose, then oak, pepper and spice on the palate. Most call it "smooth, not overly complex," with a short finish. The 43% alcohol isn't always well integrated.
The community says- Unique cane-juice profile
- Easy to drink
- Short finish
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Buy Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale:
Compare all 4 shop offers from 34.80 €
Prices & availability last updated on
The look inside the bottle
How does Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale taste?
Aggregated from 148 community reviews.
Easy, spicy cane-juice rum, short finish A pleasant, easy Haitian that splits people: fans call it a unique, well-priced sipper, while enthusiasts find it thin, short and a touch hot for the flavor it gives.
Beginners and drinkers curious about Haitian cane-juice rum
People chasing depth, length and big flavor
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
46 of 148 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
How is Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 7.0 sits in the “Good” band. 47% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 4% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
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Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Community voices
What does the community say?
80% rate it between 6 and 8. 19 selected write-ups from 148 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by JST MLLR
Most helpful positive review
Super rhum, vraiment de qualité, il vaut son prix. Un must have pour un collectionneur de rhum ou qui veut avoir une bonne cave à proposer !
Review by Julien Ries
Most helpful critical review
A bottle given by my sister for Christmas 2024. On the nose, quite flattering on fruit with baked apple, with a little vanilla and grey pepper. The palate is quite strong in alcohol, with an integration of the alcohol that could have been better. Few aromas apart from light vanilla and a tiny bit of oak. A very ephemeral finish that leaves nothing memorable. Not much to say about this rum, which remains pleasant but forgettable.
Review by cigares
A rum tasted at the Lucerne Gin and Rum Festival 2024. A nose of bitter root, like gentian, but also sugar, yellow fruit and a herbaceous side. The palate is very bitter and alcoholic, a gentian spirit? But also with a sweet/honey side. The finish is short, leaving only bitterness in the mouth. To the untrained eye, you'd think it was a slightly sweet root liqueur rather than a rum. That said, it's pleasant on the palate and well made. I like it less than the 4-year-old.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Considering the price tag you get a lot for your money. Beautiful colour with fruity caramel nose and sweet on the palate. Could be a good beginner rum i think.
Review by Galli33
I tried this rum at a local bar… Very sweet, round, soft and spicy rum. I didn’t like it much, because it’s not the kind of rum I’ used to drink. I can recommend it to beginners or guys who want to make the next step 😜 Also the alcohol isn’t integrated well.
Review by TheJackDrop
Dégusté au salon Rhum Fest Paris, notes partielles. EDIT : trop simple et pas assez long. C’est plutôt amusant, je n’ai pas de points de comparaison avec d’autres barbancourt dans mon souvenir. Globalement trop acqueux et un peu d’alcool quand même pour ce degrés là, mais sinon on a un nez melon/pasteque puis une bouche carrément sur les épices, il n’y a presque que ça…
Review by Righrum
A light rum, mainly driven by sugar and caramel notes. Great price to quality, as I paid 20€ for a bottle, this could be a great entry level for beginners while rum lovers could skip it, the sweetness is too relevant and almost artificial (even if I do not think this rum does have any additive)
Review by Johannes
Flavor very thin, but alcohol better integrated.
Review by Pascal Gwada
Rhum assez inexistant surtout au nez. Bouche, assez plate. La longueur est moyenne à courte, sec, épicé .
Review by Eric Frechin
Il peut être une bonne entrée en matière, pour quelqu un qui démarre dans le rhum, de part son prix peu élevé et sa simplicité. Il reste quand même un peu alcooleux et légèrement pimenté. Mais il offre aussi quelques palettes agréables de sucre vanille herbe. Je l ai préféré au 15 ans
Review by Hordamer Mendelbaum
Vegetal. Meady. Not my style
Review by Rare Akuma
Something I keep on hand as a mixer, but lets see how it stands up on its own. On the nose and in the mouth a mellow, but flat profile. Sparse dried fruits, burnt sugar and barrel notes. Mineralic with rainwater, but really no complexity and nothing to excite the senses.
Review by paulgi86
What’s weird rum…. I thought my senses were off because the nose is so tight, there was nothing coming off it…. Smelt of slight vegetal grass, spice and oak, that’s it…. Added a couple of drops of water and it was hazy for a moment which was nice to see but made no difference to the flavour Just bland, generic spirit - it’s borderline flavourless, like vodka… Can’t really get behind this one - to gentle a flavour for me…. Maybe the 43% ABV is what’s killing it because it’s rather bland
Review by Rick Meyer
Didn’t know what to expect on this one but enjoyed it in every way. Nose and palate are completely different. Tasty!
Review by Ticesud Gdd
Dégustation moyenne un peu sec
Review by Godspeed
A very odd and unique bird in the rum world. Made from pure cane juice but you would swear it’s a molasses rum. The Limousine barrels or the second distilling in pot stills must work magic because it’s unlike any other pure cane juice rhum you’ve ever tried. My issue with Barbancourt is this: As a technical oddity I find it fascinating but if someone had told me this is just another smooth bajan or st lucian rum I would’ve enjoyed it but then quickly forgotten about it. Yes, it’s unique in cane juice rums, but the flavor of that uniqueness is not itself unique. I love it to be sure but I dont enjoy it more than I do, say, a standard bottle of chairman’s reserve. Special note must be made to their production methods where they do genuinely help a lot of small farmers in Haiti.
Review by Matiss
Good bridge between a classic molasses based rum and an Agricole style rum, has a bit of both styles with a mild vegetal flavor. The French barrels add an interesting complexity to this rum. Sadly for a 8 year old old, this rum has a strong/sharp taste of alcohol that diminishes potential for this rum to be a good sipper.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Alcohol could be a little better integrated but all in all a solid Haiti rum.
Review by Kelby
Burn. Wood with peppery finish. Then it’s gone. Lingering barrel.
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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 The Fat Rum Pirate
Read full review →A bottle of Rhum Barbancourt 5 star will set you back just over £30 for a 70cl bottle at 43% ABV. This is an excellent rum and an absolute bargain at that price. It's a must try. Please do not delay because you don't like Agricole. This is very different.
Details about Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale
A Rhum Agricole from Haiti, distilled by Barbancourt, at 43%.
Community purchases
349 bottles logged by 317 collectors.
A drinker & collector.
32% opened, 38 emptied and repurchased.
What does Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale cost?
Community paid 26–50 €.
Current best price: 34.80 € – within 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+ →
349 purchased · 161 tasted · 61 wishlist · as of
About the Barbancourt distillery
The Barbancourt distillery is located in Haiti. Rums from Barbancourt have been reviewed 1,025 times with an average of 7.5/10.
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