Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale
Loved by JST MLLR, Wes Burgin & 5 more
A solid stepping stone into Haitian cane-juice rum. Light cane, vanilla and honey on the nose, with oak, caramel and pepper on the palate. Often praised as a budget-friendly sipper and mixer.
- Great value
- Approachable profile
- Versatile in cocktails
+9Compare all 8 shop offers from 34.58 €
Details about Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale
How does Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale taste?
Aggregated from 145 community reviews.
Easy, budget-friendly Haitian sipper A solid stepping stone into Haitian cane-juice rum. Light cane, vanilla and honey on the nose, with oak, caramel and pepper on the palate. Often praised as a budget-friendly sipper and mixer.
Value seekers and beginners wanting an easy, lightly sweet Haitian rum that bridges molasses-style softness with a touch of vegetal cane character, for sipping or mixing.
Seasoned enthusiasts chasing high-intensity agricoles or deep complexity, and anyone sensitive to slightly sharp alcohol or short finishes.
How is Barbancourt 5 Stars 8 Years Réserve Spéciale rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict , 7.0 lands squarely in the "Good" band. 46% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 4% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
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Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Based on 145 ratings
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 JST MLLR
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 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 Julien Ries
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 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!
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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
"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."Read full review →
Community purchases
371 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 60 members.
About the Barbancourt distillery
The Barbancourt distillery is located in Haiti. Rums from Barbancourt have been reviewed 1,001 times with an average of 7.5/10.
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