Bedford Park Saint Lucia 21 Year Vendome Pot Still Rum
Reviewer: Tashtego
Distillery: Saint Lucia Distillers
Origin: Saint Lucia
Bottle Size: 700 ml
Bottle Count: 178
ABV: 54.9%
Distilled: 2004
Base Material: Molasses
Still: Pot still
Aging specs: Aged 21 years, with the first two years at origin then shipped to the UK and aged in an ex-rum cask
Bottled: 2025
Nose: Cherries, sea foam, brown sugar, permanent marker
Palate: Plum, anise, banana, Luxardo cherries, fermenting cherry, dark red wine
Finish: Caramel, brine, tropical fruits
Here’s another offering from Bedford Park, a Canadian independent bottler, that takes us down to the Windward Islands to Saint Lucia with a 21-year pot still rum. Now I say pot still, but the Vendome still at SLD is actually a hybrid still that has a column component. Saint Lucia is, to date, the only rum island I’ve had the opportunity to visit, and I took a distillery tour while there and saw this still with my own eyes. In fact, they even let you touch it while it was in operation. It’s right in the center of the distilling room about 20 feet or so away from both their column still and their two John Dore pot stills. Here’s a pic I snapped while on the tour:
Such a beautiful copper machine! But not as beautiful as what comes out of it. Let’s talk about this rum. On the nose, this is a Saint Lucia pot still from a mile away. It’s got that potent cherry syrup aroma that I’ve had on some of the Chairman’s Reserve single cask bottlings. It’s a lovely, complex nose that moves between cherry, tropical fruits and permanent marker or glue.
On the palate, this is deep and tropical. There are both dark red fruits like plums and Luxardo cherries, but also some spice (notably anise) and even some banana. I get some creaminess, too, that makes me think of ice cream (maybe cherry chocolate ice cream, or licorice ice cream - for the very few people besides me who’ve actually had that). The finish is sweet tropical fruits and a bit of sea brine, like you’ve just waded back in from the ocean. The flavor is complex and rewarding — cherries jubilee with a sweet vegetal edge.
Cask strength Saint Lucia rums have almost as unique a profile as high ester Hampden Estate rums, and it’s equally hard to nail exactly what that is. You know it when you taste it. To me, it tastes very much like the smells of the island - sweet sea air, flowering bushes, fruit trees, bananas. It also tastes a lot like the distillery itself - the yeasty, fermenting vats of molasses and the rum being distilled there - that carries through to these bottles (that’s why I have fermenting cherries and wine in the tasting notes).
Every sip of this one takes me back to the island. And the island of Saint Lucia is one of the most naturally beautiful places I’ve ever been. It’s well represented by the very cool pinball design on this label. You can see the twin mountains called the Pitons on the bottle, which I got to see on the plane ride in just before landing:
One of the coolest views in the Caribbean. I’m glad there are unique bottling of Saint Lucia rum like this, because Saint Lucia Distillers doesn’t sell to third party bottlers any more. There’s not much of this sort of thing left, which brings us to the ratings.
On Taste, this is a 5 for me. It’s got so much character, sweetness and fruit, making for an engaging sipping experience. While you can get similar expressions from the Chairman’s Reserve single casks, this one really brings some extra oomph. For Haste, I’ll give it a 3 because it’s quite expensive at $240 at Raising Glasses. We picked this up from a European retailer for less, but then of course there’s shipping and tariffs to worry about. If you want to splurge on this, or maybe find it at a bar somewhere, this is worth a taste. Be transported to Helen of the West, and let your palate take a journey to the tropics.
Taste/Haste Scale: 5 / 3
