Angel's Share Title
Chairman’s Reserve Legacy
In 2011 my wife and I visited Saint Lucia and had the pleasure of meeting Saint Lucia Distillers Laurie Barnard. During our visit with him, he shared his dreams of growing sugarcane for the distillery, discussed blending, aging rum in different kinds of wooden casks, and letting us try a variety of rums that the company was producing at that time. It was his vision and freedom to take risks and experiment that led to the creation of the Chairman’s Reserve line in 1999. I remember discovering it at a local shop during the early days of my rum journey and the spiced version becoming one of my favorite spiced products to use for making certain cocktails as well as making desserts. So, meeting the man behind one of my favorite brands was a thrill and a highlight of that trip. In October of 2012, Mr. Barnard passed away, leaving behind a lasting legacy and guiding vision that helped Saint Lucia Distillers become one of the best companies in the Caribbean. Chairman’s Reserve Legacy is named in honor of this legacy and memory. The rum is a blend of four rums (aged between 5 and 8 years) that used two pot stills and one Coffey still with a combination of molasses-based rum and appropriately enough sugarcane rum sourced from the company’s sugarcane estate located on Rosseau, Saint Lucia. The rum is bottled at 43% ABV and is currently available in the Caribbean, Europe and the United States.
Chariman's Reserve
Appearance
The rum can be found on the shelves in a box that features a portrait of Laurie Barnard. It provides details about the man, his impact on the company, and the world of rum. The bottle is the standard Chairman’s Reserve short-necked bottle that features the portrait from the box and provides some of the basic information about the rum.
The rum holds a mahogany and dark amber color in the bottle and glass. When I agitated the glass a medium band formed that dropped a wave of fast-moving legs, then slowly thickened and dropped a second wave of slower legs. The band continued to thicken and dropped a third was of even thicker legs before evaporating and leaving a wave of beads around the glass.
Nose
The nose delivers an aroma of lush vanilla, light nuttiness, smoked banana, cooked pineapple, cantaloupe, passion fruit juice, toffee and loads of oak tannins.
Palate
The first sip conditions the tongue with a swirl of floral, spice, and caramelized vanilla notes. Subsequent sips reveal cinnamon, mace, allspice, black pepper, spearmint, charred oak, allspice, dried tobacco, all of the fruit notes from the aroma weave and bind the heavier flavors together in a complex fruity finish that takes quite a while to fade.
Review
As Chairman’s Reserve was an early discovery it is one that I have returned to time and again and found reliable in its consistency. The spiced incarnation has had some slight changes in the flavor profile but remains in my opinion, one of the best spiced rums from the Caribbean. Legacy in no way disappoints and quite frankly surpassed expectations. This is definitely a rum that slowly builds from the aroma and early sips, conditioning the senses and unveiling its complexities though out the tasting experience. As the rum fades from my palate, I am sure it is the most complex rum in the Chairman’s Reserve line. Available in the United States and Europe this rum is a must have for anyone who enjoys Saint Lucia Distiller’s products and truly honors Laurie Barnard’s legacy.
