Chairman’s Reserve, Legacy

Chairman’s Reserve is a brand that needs no introduction on the blog and for very good reason as it was the brand that introduced me to rum and inspired me to start sharing my journey. I’ve tasted all the core range and a number of their interesting/limited releases but the Legacy bottling is one that had got a little lost on the corner of the shelf and was definitely long overdue a retaste.

This release is a tribute to Laurie Barnard, the “Chairman” of St. Lucia Distillers whom inspired and created the iconic brand Chairman’s Reserve through his pioneering and future looking attitude of exploring different barrel types, small pot stills (not typical at the time in St Lucia), proprietary yeast strains, and the use of sugarcane rather than molasses.

Facts & Figures.

ABV: 43%

Country: St Lucia

Age: Blend of 5-8 years

Cask: ex-Bourbon

Still: Pot & Column

Price: £40

Distillery: St Lucia Distillers

On the nose.

Very ripe mango sits on top of an earthy acidity and very old leather. I get a really fun floral/perfume note to this that makes me think of earl grey tea leaves with a real muskiness that is cut through by a slightly dull menthol. A decent amount of wood is present with some oaky vanilla rounding things off nicely. This has a lot more going on that I remember!

On the palate.

The first thing I have to make note of here is the restrained complexity – lots of flavours present in quick succession rather than competing for dominance. A fresh and floral element with a touch of mint and a subtle saline note. Root ginger and salted caramel sauce develop slowly. Plenty of young, reasonably heavily charred wood supports and lifts throughout. A bitterness (not chemically) on the very end of the finish. It’s really hard to believe this is only 43% ABV given the depth and complexity of flavour.

7/10 – I really enjoyed revisiting this and think it’s extraordinary value for money.