In fact, the volcano is probably responsible for some of JM’s typical style. The volcanic soil on which the the distillery’s estate is built is incredibly fertile, making it perfect for the growing of sugar cane. Indeed, the distillery grows all the sugar cane it uses in the Habitation Bellevue estate, found a little further up mountain. Habitation Bellevue is the perfect location for growing cane, not just because of the soil, but also because of the warm climate, humid sea air and altitude. Despite this, volcano life has its downsides: prospective disasters aside, the added altitude means that whilst there is a greater yield of cane crop, the sugar content is lower, meaning that more crop has to be used when making the rum. Rhum J.M along with Rhum Clement and the recently acquired St Lucia Distillers are part of the GBH (Groupe Bernard Hayot) Spirit Division. It’s reasonably complex and its certainly a very competent and enjoyable white agricole. It could perhaps be a bit more vivid and punchy but it has enough to entertain and it becomes surprisingly addictive. The bottle itself looks like a traditional, antique spirits bottle — specifically, something you’d expect from a Scottish distillery. And I’m totally here for it. Most rum on the market these days is intended to be fun and quirky, but this ancient and storied expression of a very specific kind of rum has earned the right to be a little more stoic.

In the glass we have a translucent spirit which is likely to have benefited from some filtration to give it a clear appearance. For all mixology enthusiasts, JM has created the L'Atelier des Rhums range, which brings together rums specially designed to express specific aromatic profiles:Head to St Lucia and you’ll find Deny Duplessis, Master Blender at St Lucia Distillers, exploring the limits of blending, using the distillates coming off the distillery’s assorted column, Vendome and John Dore pot stills. While in Barbados, the Foursquare Rum Distillery, led by its driven CEO and Master Distiller Richard Seale, is blazing a trail for its own Geographical Indication (GI). Watch this space… A happy event to celebrate? Let our team of experts guide you as you search for the perfect bottles to make your celebration unforgettable. More info

Once cultivated and crushed into a juice, the sugar is added to some water and fermented for no more than five days to an alcohol content of 7.5% ABV. (The idea here is that the lower-than-usual alcohol content will allow more flavorful rum to be produced in the end.) What I get first is the aromas of the raw materials: toffee and caramel from the sugar cane juice, and some distinctly tropical fruit notes of coconut, mango, lemon, lime, apricots, and orange. There’s also a bit of the vanilla from the barrel aging process in there, which adds something you usually don’t see with a rum, making for an interesting combination. Vieux (Old): Aged in oak barrels for a minimum of three years, these rums are smoother, with the wood imparting depth and warm notes of vanilla, tobacco, and toasted nuts. I’m still getting that dark and rich component from the oak, but it isn’t quite as loud as before. Instead, the fruit flavors get more of the spotlight, with the pineapple and banana specifically coming through strong. To be fair, it doesn’t have quite the same level of flavor saturation as before — it’s a little more towards the watery end of the spectrum at this point. Fizz (Dark and Stormy)

La martinique

Each barrel is carefully selected to bring specific characters to our aged rum. Before being used, our barrels are first charred by igniting high-proof rum inside the barrel. After the char has been scraped, new oak tannins are exposed, which deliver the barrel’s character and the rich color we want in our aged rums. There’s a rich and heavy fruit aroma coming off the glass here, almost like a very sweet fruitcake — I’m getting some raisins, apricots, deep brown sugar, plums, figs, and a touch of vanilla for good measure. As the liquid settles, there’s a bit of the herbaceous raw sugar cane that peeks through, but it is significantly buried under everything else. It’s less of a tropical assortment than we saw in the VSOP and more of the traditional rancio profile. Price estimate statistics ---- J.M 2005 Of. Calvados Cask n°0410147 - One of 570 - bottled 2015 ----

Spiribam will be able to count on the excellent team culture that reigns within our company as well as our attention to quality customer service. Our company sizes are certainly quite different, but our values and our common family business culture, deeply rooted in our operating styles, are so close that our merger is perfectly natural. ” Made on the banks of Guyana’s Demerera River, using both wooden and metal Coffey stills, this hugely popular 12 Year Old is full of rich and fruity esters. Toffee, vanilla and spices combine with dried dark fruits, especially prunes, and even a whisper of smoke, making this a beautiful rum to enjoy just as it is. Alc 40% Smooth, elegant and harmonious on the palate. Lightly burnt caramel refined with bourbon vanilla beans, tropical fruits very lightly candied lie in a basket woven from sugar cane leaves. The call of the island becomes louder ! An excellent homage to the spiced rum tradition of St Lucia, this expression of Chairman’s Reserve is a blend of Coffey and pot still rums aged in ex-bourbon casks and infused with local fruits and spices, such as orange peel, cinnamon and nutmeg. We’re talking Jaffa Cakes with Chairman’s’ recognisable dark chocolate note coming through, as well as Christmas cake, while all those spices give a beautiful warming finish. Alc 40%

the sugar cane

Créoles: an amber rum rich in spices and warm notes, offering an exotic and spicy touch to your drinks. For the second year in a row, Martinique’s Rhum Neisson took home the crown as the world champion of rum, with its Neisson 21 90th Anniversary edition besting Flor de Cana’s Generaciones to take home the title. Taking a sip, those fruits are the first thing I get, specifically the coconut, mango, banana, and apricot. That’s followed by just a hint of pineapple as well as some good caramel and vanilla notes. It’s a sweet yet complex flavor profile that ends with a rather short finish, a bit of banana being the only note that holds on very long after the other flavors have dissipated. On Ice As for the size, the label is large… and normally I’d complain about that, since such a huge label would prevent you from seeing the spirit inside the bottle. But the dark green glass used here already means there really isn’t much to see.