It’s already drinkable, though personally I don’t need a bottle. €125.
I’ve been waiting forever for the Savanna Bar mat to be back in stock at excellencerhum… you guys don’t happen to have a spare one lying around that I could grab for twenty bucks? 
Much less buzz than 2025 
Oh 
shame…
At least in Paris we had a lot 
I actually didn’t find it that impressive. I’d say it was on par with last year. At any rate, it was enough for us to spend the whole day focusing solely on rum.
Here are a few impressions:
Hampden
I found the new Hampden Fresh somewhat more relaxed and milder than Rum Fire. As a mixer, certainly not bad, depending on the cocktail.
The DOK 2021 Single Cask is just a DOK with quite robust esters, but easier to drink than many continental DOKs.
I really liked the new 10y Great House 2026, with less aggressive esters and more depth instead. Definitely getting a bottle of that for my shelf.
Elixir Distillers
I found the Black Tot 2024 not bad. The new Rum Trail releases were then THE positive surprise at the Whisky Live for me.
A spicy 22y Guyana blend at €150. A 24y Panama, quite classic, but intense and straightforward. A 1997 Caroni at around €400 with also quite a classic profile. A 1998 Hampden at around €200 that came across very relaxed, with lots of banana funk, almost like a complex Worthy Park.
You can debate the prices, but the quality was definitely there.
Savanna
I was already familiar with some of the bottlings from the recent masterclass, such as the new unaged AGA. I picked up a bottle of that for €40.
The new Unshared Cask for Germany Single Cask also impressed me a lot; it just needs some time in the glass. I took home a bottle for €115.
I also liked the l’Absolu 2025, but at €175 it was too pricey for me.
Of the bottlings from collaborations with various artists, I really enjoyed the Repy. Friends were very impressed with the Xandro and ended up taking a bottle home as well.
J. Bally
For me, a tasty Agricole. You can buy it for €125, but it didn’t completely win me over.
Rum Nation
An 8-year Grays at cask strength. Very fairly priced at €50, but the alcohol wasn’t quite perfectly integrated.
FRC
FRC’s selection didn’t impress me as much this time. I really liked the Thai rum and it was very fairly priced at €50. A 4-year Agricole from Martinique also caught my fancy. The other bottlings, including a blend and a German release, didn’t strike me as particularly exciting.
LM&V
Velier had some known bottlings but especially new Clairin releases, including the Veux Communal, a 22-month aged Casimir, and a 7-year Vieux Vaval Single Cask as a trade show bottling. I liked all three, but none of them absolutely blew me away.
Rom de luxe
Kim had, among other things, a new 5-year Poisson with a brandy cask finish and 73% ABV coming out soon for €120, and I really loved it. The alcohol was very well integrated and I’m considering picking up a bottle.
There was also a new Montebello that really impressed me and was very fairly priced at under €100 for the quality.
And he had the 5-year HGML Rakete with 85.2% from GRF again. Not for everyone, but for me it’s an exceptional rum with fantastic quality.
Other Spirits
Vallein Tercinier had some fantastic cognacs on offer again. A 25-year Single Cask, very fruity and at just over 43.5% almost easy-drinking territory. The two Generation bottlings were really good too. I actually liked the younger 6th Generation bottling even better than the older one, and at €145 it was fairly priced for the quality.
What I did take home was the Pineau des Charentes for €30, which was simply delicious with its aromas of fruit and walnuts.
I tried a 4-year Rye from Willet that I really enjoyed as well.
Say hi to Krzysztof! 
What does the two-year-old butterfly taste like?
It’s a DOK and thus with full impact. 8.2 but end-of-fair rating.
Fair verdict: Very thin on rum, hardly any interesting bottlings. Fewer stands overall than last year. Really nice masterclass. And of course, always great to meet familiar faces!
Fast impressions on the train back to Cologne
_ Hampden: the Butterfly DOK from Jean Luc Pasquet casks impressed me a lot for a 2y old Rum, the new Great House 2026 with a 10y age statement is a very welcome addition to the series, less in yo face and quite refined. Brilliant masterclass by Pepi and Danielle.
_ FRC: der Knüppel, 70% high ester from Australia, Jamaica and Martinique keeps its promise on the label: „der knüppelt alles weg, auch dich.“ I ordered three bottles. The Thailand 57% was the expected positive surprise, a sure shot if you enjoyed its Flickenschild predecessor, the Martinique 6y is a J.M, solid if you enjoy Sherry finishes, I did not try Germany, Ecuador & Panama, not my stylez. Price/Value ratio of FRC is brilliant.
_ Elixir: tried all 4 single casks, none blew me away but all are fair priced and worth the money. The Jamaica 1998 is not Hampden but a Monymusk if I remember correctly, it sure did not taste like a Hampden to me.
_Savanna: nothing new but very pleasant conversations with the gorgeous ambassadors from Reunion.
_ Whisky: unimpressed by the 41y Longmorn from Thompson Bros, 13y Clynelish much better, Kornog 2017 brilliant as expected….. and I stop here since this is a Rum blog and I better not get started with the Cognacs from VT and the masterclass by Serge & Seb.
_ Verdict: fine fair if Rum is not your only target, well organized and I will surely be back 2027
_ PS: I forgot the brilliant 9y J.Bally 65,5% which beats last years 15y easily, very precise, concentrated and without the strong wood influence. Still to expensive if you compare it to the Journal des Kirsch #14 with half of the price tag but powerful & straight enough for me to order a bottle.
Maniac has listed the WLH/50th Kirsch releases (also quite a bit of whisky) as available for pre-order. Are these the RRPs? I’m never sure about those (which is why I didn’t post them in the radar either).
I think 150€ for a 5-year-old German Shepherd is already quite a lot.
The 2021 DOK cost €145 at the trade show.
The HGML 2020 from last year was at €125. The 5y Velier DOK was, I think, at €130 retail price. Just for comparison.
Finde 150€ für einen 5jährigen DOK schon happig
This really takes the prize of best auto-translation of the year for me
Agree 