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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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February 14, 2016 |
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A few French white rhums
at lower strengths |
Contrarily to whisky, rum can be perfectly sippable and even excellent when white, especially when unaged, provided it’s high-quality distillate and, above all, unsweetened and not ‘modified’ using various additives. Some white rums are aged and then discoloured, but we’ll try to avoid those today. In theory, a proper ‘white’ should be bottled at 50% vol. or even more in my opinion, but we’ll rather have a few lighter ones today. |
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Savanna ‘Lontan’ (40%, OB, La Réunion, white, grand arôme, +/-2015)  This is molasses-based rhum from the French island of La Réunion, in the Indian ocean. Grand arôme means that they’ve done some ultra-long fermentation, which always brings more complexity to any spirit. Colour: white. Nose: indeed, this is almost ‘dunder style’ rum, with a lot of brine, olives, damp sand, then even something like cooked onions, before fruitier notes emerge, such as very ripe bananas and pineapples. Whiffs of fresh wood varnish as well, not from the wood, obviously. Mouth: it’s very earthy spirit at first sips, before notes of lavender sweets are making an appearance, then bananas and brine, plus liquorice wood. It’s very characterful spirit, that you could sip just like any very good eau-de-vie. But it’s still a little milder than vésou-based whites, such as our beloved clairins. Finish: medium, earthy and olive-y, with a little camphor and eucalyptus. There is, I have to say, a similarity with Ledaig, should we talk Scotch. Comments: an excellent ‘dirty-ish’ rhum, dirt being an asset in this context. It’s just a little wishy-washy at 40% vol. SGP:462 - 82 points. |
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La Mauny ‘Ter Rouj'’ (40%, OB, Martinique, agricole, white, +/-2015) It’s got the appellation controlee. Ter Rouj’ refers to the red earth that they have around the cane fields in south Martinique. Colour: white. Nose: starts on the same notes as the Savanna, but tends to become fruitier and rounder, with also more burnt notes (distillation) and more flowers. Ylang-ylang, perhaps. Also fresh almonds, and a drop of kirsch. Some sea air too, which keeps it fresh and, well, quite coastal. Mouth: it’s grassier than expected, with more lime as well, a little salt, grapefruits... It’s well earthy and briny, so very ‘agricole’ indeed, with just a touch of pineapple jam and hints of smoked ham. Finish: rather long, salty, limy, earthy, with a few fermentary notes, not unpleasant at all. Yeast. Comments: this fairly new cuvee is a success, in my opinion. Very nice distillate that really tastes authentic and not designed SGP:452 - 80 points. |
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Père Labat ‘40’ (40%, OB, Marie-Galante, agricole, white, +/-2015)  Père Labat is made by the highly reputed distillerie Poisson, on the tiny island of Marie-Galante, near La Guadeloupe. You could not come up with a simpler label, could you. They also have a funny slogan, Ici c’est Labat (phonetically, ‘here, it’s there’). Colour: white. Nose: rather gentler than both the Savanna and Mauny, with some bananas and some rocks, concrete, clay… Touches of tar and liquorice wood in the background, as well as a little fern and moss. Tends to become drier and even more mineral, losing its fruitiness, but that’s quite pleasant. Mouth: really unusual, metallic, earthy, and very mineral again. Some kind of asparagus liqueur, perhaps. This is close to nature, in a way. Nudist rhum? Finish: medium, with a feeling of ashes, chalk, a little salt, Chinese sweet and sour sauce (form dim sum)… Comments: really like it, but I’m not sure I’d sip a lot of this. Reminds of that artisanal celeriac-based spirit that some make in Alsace (when no one ‘s watching ;-)) SGP:362 - 78 points. |
We’ll have the Père Labat 50 in the coming weeks. In the meantime… |
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Rhum J.M ‘White Rum’ (40%, OB, Martinique, agricole, white, +/-2015)  Why they decided to write ‘Rhum Blanc’ in English, I don’t quite know. Colour: white. Nose: oh nice! Lemons and gherkins are running the show, making this rather purer and brighter than the others. I also find some fennel, caraway, and aniseed. Really very nice. Mouth: yes, really excellent. More lemons and gherkins, but also raw turnips, olives, grapefruits, some cardamom, some earthy spices, ginger, curcuma (very vivid), perhaps even saffron… This one’s zestier and purer for sure, and possibly more consensual as well. We’ll go with the consensus. Finish: medium, fresh, zesty… Some kind of pickled cucumbers in the aftertaste, which works very well. Comments: impeccable sipper. We’ll try to taste a version at a higher proof in the near future. SGP:462 - 85 points. |
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Karukera ‘Silver’ (40%, OB, Guadeloupe, white, +/-2015)  This one’s supposed to be a lighter agricole-style rhum, which means that it’s rather been distilled South-American style, with fewer congeners (very high-strength new make). Colour: white. Nose: indeed, it’s much lighter than all the others. Whiffs of lime, cut grass, a little sea water, citrons, but not much else. So very light, but I wouldn’t call it ‘absent’. Few ‘greases’. Mouth: easy, not quite bland, but it suffers a lot after the fatter ones. Not quite for malt drinkers, and probably more for dedicated mixologists indeed (according to Karukera’s website, but I had thought wizards of the shaker tended to look for bigger ingredients these days?) The body’s really thin. Finish: very short. Wooosh. Comments: have I told you that this was very light? SGP:441 - 65 points. |
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Clément ‘Première Canne’ (40%, OB, Martinique, agricole, white, +/-2015)  A white rhum that they progressively reduce within 6 to 9 months, and not in one go, as some savages are doing elsewhere ;-). Colour: white. Nose: in the style of the J.M, just a tad more maritime, with whiffs of iodine. Perhaps a notch sharper as well. Really very pleasant and fresh. Mouth: indeed, a very similar style. This one’s a notch more mineral perhaps, while being a wee bit rounder as well (mangos?) Very close, although the J.M tends to last longer and to remain rather zestier. Finish: very close indeed. Comments: it’s true that J.M and Clément belong to the very same owners, but I believe they’re still made completely separately. SGP:462 - 84 points. |
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Rhum Rhum ‘PMG’ (41%, OB, Marie-Galante, +/-2015) Made at Bielle using bespoke stills by Gianni Capovilla, and distributed by Luca Gargano’s Velier. Colour: white. Nose: it’s rather more floral and aromatic than most others, maybe better chiselled and rather less fattish/rawish. But it’s still very agricole, with olives and gherkins plus overripe bananas and pineapples. Touches of blackcurrant eau-de-vie (Capovilla makes some great one, did he add a few buckets? I’m joking of course). Mouth: it’s a little sweeter and fruitier indeed, with notes of pineapple-flavoured jell-O, then rather sweet lime, citron liqueur, and once again, some agricole-y notes of green olives. Very elegant, very fresh. Finish: medium, more citrusy, and ultra-clean. Perfect zesty aftertaste. Comments: you could drinks buckets of this indeed. All you need is a swimming pool and a parasol. SGP:551 - 85 points. |
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Arcane ‘Cane Crush’ (43.8%, OB, Mauritius, +/-2015) Agreed, Mauritius isn’t part of France, although it used to. This baby’s double distilled in a strange way, that is to say first in a column still, and then in a cognac alambic. What for? To further purify it? I must be missing something. Now what’s good is that they use cane juice, not molasses. Colour: white. Nose: very discreet, delicately lemony, with hints of yellow chartreuse (mint, fennel, aniseed, liquorice)… Ideas of a fresh cumin liqueur (perhaps). Mouth: bigger and oilier, a little sweet but not exactly sweetish, on similar notes of pastis and chartreuse. Also tangerines, pears, peaches, and a little white pepper. I find this pleasant, and really less sugary than I had feared after a few sugar bombs we had found in Île Maurice. Finish: medium, rather on oranges and more tangerines. Comments: not very sugarcane-y, but the fruits are pleasant and the feeling of sugar rather low. Easy and pretty pretty good, I think. SGP:650 - 79 points. |
 Check the index of all rums I've tasted so far
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