Guadeloupe, 1998, 12 yo (Rum) Berry Bros. & Rudd
Rum!
Guadeloupe is of course in the area we call the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico, north of Trinifad and Tobago. It is part of France, so I am in fact drinking a French spirit. Nonetheless Carribean Rum is akin to Scotch Whisky in terms of association and history, and history is an explanation for the very different methods of Rum production in the region.
The former French colonies – Haiti, Martinique and Guadeloupe could be characterised by their distillation of sugar cane juice ‘rhum agricole’ as oppposed to the former English colonies that produce rum distilled from molasses. As a result Rhum agricole has a distinctive lighter vegetal characteristic while molasses-distilled rums are generally richer heavier styles. Also notable is the Brazilian spirit Cachaça which is in fact a light unaged rum.
Here we have a Guadeloupe Rhum Agricole, bottled by the venerable Berry Bros & Rudd, so:
Guadeloupe, 1998, 12 yo (Rum) Berry Bros. & Rudd, 46%
Nose: Strappy and vegetal indeed. Pressed vegetable juice and lots of crackling toffee crisp. I want to say fibrous.. Nice mixture of aniseed rock, and gentler wood spices, plus whiffs of menthol balm. Coffee granules. Overall really smooth and enticingly exotic. Nice change from a whisky.
Palette: Pleasantly bittersweet. Bittergourd-hot molasses combo. Grippy too. Develops into something rooty with warm licorice overtones, becoming more and more ‘herbal pastilles’.
Finish: Fairly long, leafy clove notes. Bitter candy.
I’ve read the vegetal note in Agricole is an acquired taste? Not so here. Immediately drinkable and yet full of complex flavours – enough to entice a whisky drinker into an exotic dalliance.
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