What is it? Rum, distilled in a column still where the raw material is pressed sugar cane juice – so a R(h)um Agricole. This rum was produced at the Depaz distillery on the island of Martinique in the French West Indies and has been aged for around 8-10 years in oak casks, tropically. You can read more about the rum and distillery in my previous posts here and here, which cover off the AOC classification and background.

Chill filtered, not coloured and bottled at 45% abv.

Sugar? Nope.

Nose: Plenty of lovely French oak here with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and black peppercorns. Fragrant notes of rose water, fresh root liquorice, hazelnuts and more vanilla. There is a little milk chocolate, some distant old leather and a meaty mushroom’y note too; almost sherry like or grape’y Cognac notes. All very “smooth” and constructed – words I dislike in spirits. Smooth for me is shy, “easy” and lacking vibrant character. It’s a very nice nose indeed but not a conversation starter.

Palate: Medium. First off there is some sour green wood, but that dies away. The flavours are quite muted; some fresh cane and tight oak spice, apple and white grape, but picking out individual flavours here is hard – maybe my lack of experience with Agricoles. I get a feeling of soft, well matured spirit more than anything individual – the types of smells I find in a good aged Cognac.

Finish: Long. Lingering spices of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and white pepper. This fades off and leaves room for plenty of milk chocolate, figs, stewed stone-fruit, coconut and vanilla. There is more to find here than on the actual palate, which is good as the finish does last a long time.

Thoughts? Hmmm. It’s normal to expect things to get better as you move up a range, age and price, but this isn’t what’s happened here. The vibrant cane notes and floral aspects that are present in the Plantation and the VSOP are lost in this and it becomes a different rum altogether. It takes quite a lot of time in the glass and some getting used to to find the notes. I suspect that Depaz are aiming firmly at the XO Cognac type drinkers with this rum, it’s so similar and constructed in the same way it would easily be interchangeable for a normal XO Cognac, like a Courvoisier. It’s clearly well made and matured, but I find the whole thing just a bit too muted and “smooth” for my liking, I want some more character to jump out of the glass at me.

Good, but not my style and I wouldn’t part with £75 for it I’m afraid.