I feel like whenever agricole comes up, people bring up Pere Labat 59 as one of the gold standards of high quality but affordable agricole. So, it was only a matter of time before I tried it.

Père Labat is named after Jean-Baptiste Labat, a Dominican missionary to the French Caribbean. He had a copper cognac pot still shipped in from France and modified it for rum production, and the rum is currently made from 4 varieties of heirloom sugarcane.

Review

Smell

I had HSE Blanc 40% on hand, and Pere Labat 59 very much smells like a Martinique agricole: brine and grass. However, as I mentioned in my Clairin Communal review, Pere Labat also smells exactly like a homebrew infected with Brettanomyces. It’s hard to describe but it’s so distinctly like a Brett infection. Barnyard, leathery, sour yeasty… not quite spoiled, but very funky.

Taste

It’s not bad. Very grassy, a touch briny, but not fruity like a clairin at all. It’s just good, light, crisp, agricole flavor. There’s also a flavor that I’m struggling to pin down. It tastes like a vinegary citrus, mixed with grape soda. Not like actual grapes, but that specific chemical that they use to make grape-flavored candy and drinks. The Brett character comes through boldly, but more specifically, bitter, dry, sour brined pickles, grass, leather, barnyard funk. It has quite a long finish, and pleasant at that. Side by side with HSE blanc, HSE is just more bitter, less complex, has a shorter finish, and is just less interesting. I don’t know if I’d ever actually choose HSE, but I can see myself vibing with Pere Labat.

In a daiquiri, it’s honestly not my favorite. The agricole flavor is aggressive and makes a really grassy, briny, Brett-forward daiquiri, which is essentially what I don’t like about a lot of agricoles in general. It works better than HSE in a daiquiri, but I still don’t prefer it.

Verdict 5.5/10

Like Fortaleza tequila, this rum is a case where I can clearly recognize quality and craftsmanship while not strongly enjoying the liquid. It still has a very good complexity that shines right through the juice and syrup. It’s just that the brine, the grass, and the funk are quite challenging flavor notes for me. If you enjoy that sort of rum, it may be excellent, but for me, it’s a 5.5/10.