New Cocktails: the Right Boulevard

While I haven't been drinking a whole lot lately, I still enjoy a cocktail now and then. While flipping through The Art of the Shim once again, I remembered how much I enjoyed the Boulevardier 1934. But let's see what happens when we give it a rhum-y spin.

The Right Boulevard

1 oz Cocchi di Torino
1 oz Cocchi Americano
0.5 oz Bruto Americano
0.5 oz aged rhum agricole

Combine all ingredients, stir on ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled coupe.

The aromas are rather shy until the drink warms up a bit, with vanilla from the vermouth leading the way followed by citrus from the Americanos and a touch of agricole grassiness/brandy. The sip opens with sweet citrus (especially grapefruit), some red bitter in the middle, fading out through classic agricole flavors. The finish is a melange of thick bittersweetness, pine, grass, brandy, and grapefruit pith.

As I suggested in my previous post, the basic form of this drink seems very amenable to modification. While my initial thought had been to drag it back into more classic territory with some rye whiskey, a bottle of Clément VSOP caught my eye. From there Bruto Americano seemed like a solid accompaniment to bring it in a more herbal direction compared to Campari. While this ended up a bit sweeter than I was envisioning, my wife declared it the best cocktail I've ever made so I'm not about to dismiss it.

New Cocktails: Rhum Agricole Punch

 I was poking through my old cocktail recipe bookmarks when I stumbled upon this gem from roughly a decade ago, courtesy of the long defunct Antifogmatic League, who got it from the also defunct Heaven's Dog bar in SF. Thankfully one of the bartenders had chimed in in the comments to note that the proportions were almost exactly correct, so off we go.

Rhum Agricole Punch

2 oz rhum agricole

1 oz lime juice

0.5 oz cane syrup

0.25 oz allspice dram

1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, then strain into a glass with fresh ice and grate nutmeg on top.

The aromas are dominated by the nutmeg, with a bit of allspice and lime peeking through. The sip begins with spicy sweetness, passes through bright lime, then fades through grassy rhum into a dry woody finish. The finish has long bittersweet lime with a touch of woody spice from the Angostura and allspice.

This take on the Lion's Tail/Jasper's Jamaican formula works really well. It has enough complex to keep it from being boring, but it can also just be a pleasant long drink to sip on a warm day.

The character will depend a lot on your choice of rhum. Since I didn't have any higher proof aged rhum open at the moment, I had to go with the mellower and lower proof Rhum J.M. V.O. This produces a subtle drink where it slides in between the other components rather than putting itself front and center. A heftier 100-proof agricole will obviously give you a bigger, bolder drink, so pick your poison. Either choice is going to be good.

New Cocktails: Rum Dandy Shim

After a bunch of stirred drinks lately, I eventually went looking for a good sour. This one also comes from The Art of the Shim and was originally produced by Craig Lane of the late Bar Agricole. While calling for sweet vermouth, I decided to take it in a different direction by using blanc instead.

 

Rum Dandy Shim

 

1 oz sweet vermouth (I used blanc)

0.5 oz rhum agricole blanc

0.5 oz lime juice

1 tsp cane syrup

2 dashes absinthe

 

Combine all ingredients in a glass half filled with crushed ice, stir briefly to combine, then top with more crushed ice and garnish with lime zest.

 

The aromas are a little muted by all the crushed ice, but I still get lovely notes of rhum and lime. The sip begins sweetly with cane juice and lime, grassy blanc rhum notes rise in the middle, then it becomes bittersweet with cane and vermouth. The finish is driven by the lime and grape notes from the rhum and vermouth.

The weather isn't exactly appropriate for this kind of drink, but I can imagine it will hit the spot even better in the summer. I really like how this takes the basic daiquiri mold and flips it around to produce a drink with almost the same intensity of flavors but much less alcohol. A lot has to be handed to the rhum agricole, which is pretty much the star wherever it goes. I did tip the balance a bit by using the rather potent Rhum J.M. 110, but I think this would still be great with something lighter. If you want to ease back even more, an aged agricole would probably mesh more with a true sweet vermouth instead of brashly pushing the blanc I used aside.

New Cocktails: Le Dernier Mot

The Last Word is a classic for a reason - it uses a lot of ingredients with bold, complex flavors that build into something unique. It has also proved amenable to all sorts of variations, swapping out each ingredient to build a whole host of new drinks.

This comes from a simple substitution - replacing the original's gin with blanc rhum agricole. While not bitter, the grassy notes seem like a good accompaniment to the other components of the drink.

Le Dernier Mot

0.75 oz rhum agricole blanc
0.75 oz lime juice
0.75 oz green Charteuse
0.75 oz Maraschino

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice for six second, then double strain into a chilled cocktail coupe.

The nose is dominated by the Charteuse, with bits of maraschino and rhum peeking around the edges. The sip opens sweetly, gets a bump of funk from the maraschino, switches into herbal notes from the Chartreuse that bounce back and forth with the emerging notes of rhum. The finish settles into a balance between the two and fades, encouraging another sip.

Dang, that was good. I figured rhum would fit right into this mold, but I like exactly how it works here. It's less assertive than gin would be, despite the higher proof, but that subtly fits. This could also be a good place for something like clarin, as the funkiness will have plenty of play off of.

New Cocktails: the Coronado Rhum Cocktail

Imbibe posted a list of cocktails using passion fruit last summer, which was a good excuse to get new bottles of BG Reynolds passion fruit syrup. A number of these require adaptation because they call for passion fruit juice or purée, but most are amenable with a little tweaking.

In this case my partner ended up substituting rhum agricole for the tequila called for in the original because she's not fond of agave spirits.

Coronado Rhum Cocktail
1.5 oz rhum agricole
1 oz Aperol
2 oz coconut water
1 oz passion fruit syrup
0.25 oz lemon juice

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice for six seconds, then pour unstrained into a tall glass.

The aromas are almost completely suppressed by the ice. The sip opens with moderate sweetness from the rum and syrups, transitioning through Aperol fruit with some light coconut in the middle, then becoming mildly bitter with a touch of lemon at the back. The finish has balanced character from all of the components.

This is exactly what you want from a tiki drink, but with the added twist of a little bitterness from the Aperol. I was surprised that substituting passion fruit syrup for juice didn't make it overly sweet, though it probably has a thicker body than it would have otherwise. Overall I think it would make a solid base for further experimentation with the amaro to push it in different directions. Something like Ramazzotti or Bruto Americano could push it in a more herbal direction alongside an aged agricole, while something lighter such as Cocchi Americano could fit well with a blanc.

Rum Review: Berry Bros. & Rudd Guadeloupe 12 Year/1998

Rhum agricole made from fresh cane juice rather than molasses is usually associated with Martinique, but other French islands also produce rhums in that style. This one comes from the islands of Guadeloupe, an overseas French department. While not specified on the label, I've read that this is from Distillerie Bellevue on the small island of Marie-Galante, which is a short hop from the larger islands of Basse-Terre and Grand-Terre.

Bellevue was originally built in 1769, with a new distillery on the site opening in 2003. As with all distilleries that produce rum from cane juice, the cane is grown nearby so that it can be harvested and transported to the distillery as quickly as possible to keep it from spoiling. As with most agricoles, the cane juice mash is distilled in a column still, though I can't find any information about the specs.

This single cask was purchased by Berry Bros. & Rudd, then bottled at 46% without coloring or chill filtration.

Berry Bros. & Rudd Guadeloupe 12 Year/1998

Nose: classic aged agricole - grassy, wine/raisins, edging into brown sugar, mild (European?) oak, nutmeg, vanilla, beeswax, baked apples, lime peel. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes buttery, with melted brown sugar, bright berries over toasted oak, and cinnamon rolls.

Taste: a little thin up front, a nice melange of grassiness, mild oak, and sugarcane/brown sugar sweetness at the beginning, berries/brandy near the back, nutmeg and a slight waxiness throughout. After dilution, it becomes a little watery, there are more berries, less grass/sugarcane, the oak becomes buttery, and there's a strong orange peel note throughout.

Finish: berries, sugarcane, mild oak, creamy, nutmeg

This is nearly everything you could want from an aged sugarcane rum - the distinctive grassiness hasn't been wiped out by the cask, but it is tempered by time. There's sweetness, but not nearly as much as you get from most molasses-based rums. Overall it's really well balanced, only falling short in terms of density of flavor, which I think could have been rectified by bumping up the bottling proof  a bit. The other reservation is price, which is a somewhat eye-watering $100+. While this is a very good rhum and I would love to drink more of it, I don't think it quite manages to justify its retail price. But I'll be keeping my eyes out for other sugarcane rums from Guadeloupe that are a little easier on the pocketbook. They're clearly making quality spirits on those islands.

Beginner's Guide to Rum

The origins of rum are shrouded in mystery, but are clearly tied up in the history of sugar.

Cutting cane in the 19th century via University of Virginia

During the 17th century, sugar was big business. The colonial powers who had claimed land in the Caribbean realized that many of the islands presented a perfect environment for growing sugarcane. Refined sucrose was made from the sweet juice crushed from cane stalks that was repeated boiled to concentrate it and drive off water. However, each step produced less and less pure sugar, eventually leaving a gooey mass of caramelized sugars, minerals, and other insoluble substances known as molasses. At the beginning, this represented a major problem, as the molasses was effectively industrial waste with little to no value.

17th century sugar refinery via Sugar at LSU

However, whether through accident or intention, someone on one of the sugar-producing islands, probably Barbados, realized that the molasses could be fermented into a foul but alcoholic liquid. From that point it was a small step to distill the molasses mash to produce a crude but potent liquor.

Early rum was little more palatable than the mash it came from - fermentation likely would have been via wild yeasts and bacteria, producing all sorts of peculiar and sometimes toxic compounds that would not necessarily have been removed from the final spirit due to unsophisticated distillation technology and techniques, plus consumption occurring more or less immediately after the spirit came off the still.

An Antigua rum distillery in 1823 via University of Virginia

To begin with, rum was primarily drunk by the same slaves who worked the plantation cane fields, using it to take the edge off of their miserable existence. But as time went on, more effort was put into the production process - more care was taken during fermentation, better stills were built, more attention was paid to proper cuts, and it was discovered that rum that had made its way across the Atlantic was significantly better after a sojourn in wooden barrels.

As time went on, different styles of rum emerged in the various colonies. Spanish rum, especially in Cuba, developed into a lighter, crisper style, especially after the introduction of the column still in the 19th century. English colonies produced somewhat heavier, richer styles, especially in Barbados, Jamaica, and Guyana. The French colonies largely went in another direction, distilling rum directly from cane juice, rather than from molasses (this is also true of Portuguese Brazil, but their cachaça is another thing again). But even within these styles, there is a wild diversity due to the fact that, unlike many other spirits, there are almost no regulations governing what can be labeled as 'rum'. If it's produced from sugarcane and distilled, then it can be called rum.

So where to start?

It's a bit of a toss-up between Spanish-style rums and Barbados. Both tend towards the lighter end of the spectrum, though Spanish-style rums will tend to be a bit lighter and crisper. One good place to start is Mount Gay Eclipse Dark from Barbados. It's not a particularly complex rum, but it establishes the fundamentals and works very well in cocktails. If you want something a bit richer, Mount Gay Extra Old or Cockspur 12 are both good picks.

For the Spanish (also sometimes called Puerto Rican) style, a good start is Flor de Caña's Extra Dry from Nicaragua, which has the lightness and crispness that is the hallmark of younger rums in this style, making it my first choice for cocktails that call for white rum. Moving up the scale, Ron Abuelo 7 Year from from Panama adds more richness and depth while retaining some of the crispness, making it my go-to rum for drinks that call for an amber Puerto Rican rum. Further along, it's hard to beat Ron Matusalem 15 Gran Reserva. While on the sweeter side due to many years in oak, it also has the heavy dose of pepper that holds the sweetness in check.

Next up is Guyana, which is known for sweeter rums with a noticeably heavy body. All rum from the country is made by one company, Demerara Distillers Limited, but the wild array of stills within their possession allow them to produce an incredible variety of different rums. The best are released under their own El Dorado label. Start with either the white 3 Year or amber 5 Year, which are relatively light but still richly flavored. From there you can move up the scale from the medium-range 8 Year to the still heavier 12 and 15 Year expressions. For tiki drinks, you'll also want the inestimable Lemon Hart 151 on hand, which is an overproof dark rum that is absolutely packed with flavor.

When it comes to Jamaican rums, the first place to start is Appleton's V/X expression. It's quite affordable and provides a ready introduction to the island's high-ester style. You can also move up the range to Appleton's Reserve (not my favorite) and Estate Extra (much better) for increasing levels of molasses sweetness, barrel flavor, and complexity/subtlety. If you want to kick it up a notch, spend the extra money for Smith & Cross, which is an in-your-face rum with an intensity comparable to heavily peated Islay whiskies. For drinks calling for dark Jamaican rum, my first choice would be Coruba, which is a very heavy style with lots of burnt sugar flavor on top of the Jamaican funk.

One of my favorite styles of rum are cane juice rums, often called rhum agricole. These are primarily produced on the French (and formerly French) islands of Martinique, Haiti, and Guadeloupe. In contrast to molasses-based rums, rhum agricole is produced from fresh squeezed cane juice. It has to be processed very promptly, as wild yeasts living in the cane will begin to ferment it not long as the cane is cut. As the name suggests, these rhums tend to have very agricultural flavors, with a distinctive grassiness and funk that can be off-putting at first. One way to ease into this category is Westerhall Plantation Rum from Grenada, which is a mix of cane juice rum and molasses-based rum. Once you're ready to really dive in, either a blanc rhum from Rhum J.M. or La Favorite or an élevé sous bois (aged in wood) from Rhum J.M. are good places to start. Once you get a handle on those, move on to the older VSOP and Vieux expressions from the likes of Barbancourt, Clément, Neisson, or La Favorite. You'll notice a certain repetition of brands, because there unfortunately aren't a lot too choose from in the United States right now. Saint James is also a good pick, but distribution was pulled within the last few years, so it's getting rather thin on the ground.

Pretty much every country in the Caribbean basin has produced sugar at one time or another and thus has its own rum industry as well. The Dominican Republic has its own twist on the Spanish style, represented by Brugal - try their Extra Viejo. Cuba, spiritual home of the Spanish style, is well-known for its Havana Club rums, but I have yet to sample them, as they're illegal to important into the United States. If you're elsewhere, try the 7 Year, which seems to be the sweet spot. Puerto Rico is obviously known for the dominant Bacardi brand, but I would skip their rums other than possible the 8 Años, though the previously mentioned Ron Abuelo 7 Year is similar but better. I've also heard good things about Don Q's Añejo as a tiki drink ingredient, especially for the tricky Nui Nui. The US Virgin Islands host another powerhouse, Cruzan, which has unfortunately slipped in quality since its takeover by Jim Beam, though the Single Barrel has a certain appeal. Antigua produces Pyrat rum, though the one time I tried it, it tasted more like Mountain Dew than rum to me. Trinidad has some great rums, especially from the now-defunct Caroni distillery. Scarlet Ibis, put together by Haus Alpenz, is a fantastic mashup of styles that simultaneously reminds me of Guyanese and Jamaican rums at the same time. Angostura, maker of the eponymous bitters, is the lone remaining distiller in Trinidad. Their older 1919 expression sounds like a great dessert rum.

Brazil, which should probably get its own post, produces cachaça, which is made from cane juice like rhum agricole, but uses different production techniques that give it a distinct flavor profile while retaining a similar vegetal grassiness. Check out Cachaçagora if you'd like to learn more, but Boca Loca makes a perfectly decent product if you want to try cachaça-based cocktails like the caipirinha. There was also an attempt to move cachaça upmarket by mixing it with a bit of aged Venezualan rum and putting it in a fancy package - a strange product called Oronoco. It gets rave reviews from some, but I'd try it before investing in a whole bottle.

Moving clockwise around the Caribbean, Venezuala produces quite a bit of rum, primarily under the Ron Diplomatico label. It doesn't tickle my fancy, but if you enjoy sweeter rums, their Reserva Exclusiva expression gets a lot of love in some quarters. I prefer Santa Teresa's 1796 more, which isn't as overwhelmingly sweet.

Central America also produces quite a bit of rum. I've mentioned Panama and Nicaragua, but Guatemala gets a lot of love for its Ron Zacapa, especially the 23 year Centenario.

America also produces rum, especially the new craft distillery movement. One of the more established is Louisiana's Celebration Distillers, who make New Orleans Rum. Close to home, House Spirits and other small distillers in Portland have been making a wide variety of rum, albeit with mixed results.

Classic Cocktails: the Rum Curacao Cooler

Can't find many references about this drink other than in the Cocktail Database. Still, a simple but tasty drink.

Rum Curacao Cooler (Adapted)

1 oz aged rum

1 oz curaçao

0.5 oz lime juice

1 oz grapefruit juice

0.25 oz simple syrup

Build over ice in a chilled glass, top with soda water and stir briefly to combine.

The sip begins with a hit of grapefruit, segues into orange, rhum agricole, and lime, then finishes bittersweet-ly.

While not complicated, this was a very pleasant drink. I adjusted the recipe because, while I had grapefruit juice and soda water, I didn't have any grapefruit soda. I think the improvisation worked just fine. But if you do have grapefruit soda around, drop the grapefruit juice and simple syrup. Also, while I used rhum agricole to give this one a bit of a kick, any kind of aged rum should do. Jamaican would be my next choice, but something from Barbados, St. Croix, or Puerto Rico will be even more mellow.

New Cocktails: the Professor

This drink comes from the PDT Cocktail Book, as a variation on the Chancellor cocktail from Esquire. I swapped around the exact varieties of spirits to suit what I had on hand, but I think it turned out reasonably well.

Professor
2 oz aged rhum agricole
0.75 oz tawny port
0.5 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The nose is dominated by the rhum, though inflected with sweet grape notes from the port and vermouth. The sip begins with very mild sweetness, which grows a bit towards mid-palate. Further back there's a complex interplay of various bitter notes and grape/brandy flavors. The finish is mostly bitter, between the vermouth and bitters, with just a bit of vanilla.

This is a really interesting drink to me because it's highlighting rhum agricole in a cocktail that's not a tiki drink. Sort of like scotch, it can be a difficult ingredient to work with because it doesn't always play well with others. However, using a more mellow VSOP rhum will probably come out smoother than the more fiery Rhum J.M. ESB that I picked. Either way, I think this is a really nice twist on the standard Manhattan mold.

Rhum Agricole Review: Saint James Hors d'Âge

This is the second in my set of reviews looking at rhums from the Saint James distillery on Martinique.

Saint James is the oldest distillery on the island in continuous operation. While rhum production goes back even further, the brand came out of a decision by Louis XV in 1763 to allow rhum from the island to be exported. The Saint James brand was established in 1765 near the town of Saint Pierre, with the name designed to appeal to English-speaking colonists in New England. Saint James is also distinguished by having put out the first vintage rhum on the island in 1885, which has continued ever since. Disaster struck in 1902 when Mount Pelée erupted, destroying Saint Pierre and most of the distillery's building. However, the main house largely survived. The distillery was consolidated on the other side of the island in the town of Saint Marie in 1974, where production has been located ever since.

 The sugar cane harvest for Saint James begins in February and extends into summer. The cut cane is transported to the distillery as quickly as possible, where it is pressed in mills to extract the juice. The juice, or 'vessou', ferments naturally due to the yeast present in the cane. Fermentation is kept between 25-30º C and is fairly quick, taking only a day or two. The mash is at 4-5% alcohol when it is added to the column stills, which give a raw spirit of 65-74% alcohol. The fresh rhum is then either rested in steel vats for a few months to produce blanc rhum or aged in oak barrels to produce everything from their paille rhum to rhum vieux. Saint James has a fairly high angels share of 8% a year, which goes a long way towards explaining their prices.

Saint James Hors d'Âge

Nose: bittersweet oak, subdued berries and wine, balsamic vinegar or raspberries, mesquite honey, a hint of woodsmoke, creamy beeswax, salted caramels, dry cane, becoming more floral/berry-oriented with time. After adding a few drops of water, the oak and wine flavors become more integrated, the berry notes seem fresher, and some brown sugar bacon notes emerge.

Taste: oak throughout, cane and wood sugar up front with wine and berries, caramel/burned sugar mid-palate along with light orange peel and vanilla, a big blast of pepper, which becomes creamier with brandy near the back. After dilution, the flavors are thinner but creamier, with the pepper becoming more assertive and the addition of some mocha near the back.

Finish: brandy, cane, bitter oak, floral, wood smoke

The Hors d'Âge expression is one of the older rhums that Saint James puts out. The rhum is aged for six to ten years in 180-liter casks, then bottled at 43% alcohol. Unsurprisingly, this means that the wood influence is much more obvious in this rhum compared to the Royal Ambré. While this does round off some of the rougher edges found in Royal Ambré, the wood can seem rather heavy on the nose at first, taking some time in the glass to find a proper balance. I feel like this rhum occupies a middle ground between the berry emphasis of Neisson Réserve Spéciale and the woodier bacon notes of La Favorite Vieux. I was slightly disappointed by how much it lost on the nose with even a few drops of water, but the palate was more robust.

Sadly this rhum is getting harder to find. I've heard rumors that Saint James was pulling out of U.S. distribution, but it can still be found with a bit of work (Hi-Time Wine has the full spread available in the U.S.). MSRP is around $50, which is a rather reasonable price for the quality of this spirit. This offers just as much complexity and depth as similarly priced single malts, so I would recommend Hors d'Âge without reservation.

Rhum Agricole Review: Depaz Blue Cane

Depaz is one of the handful of rhum agricole distilleries on the French island of Martinique. The estate goes back to 1651, when it was established by the governor Jacques Duparquet. However, it's unclear whether distilling began at that point or if that was only when sugar cane production started. Sadly they're pretty cagey about most of their history, other than the fact that the estate was rebuilt by the family owners after the eruption of Mount Pelée at the beginning of the 20th century, so I can't tell you much more.

They make a big deal of the fact that they use 'blue cane', purported one of the most difficult varieties of sugar cane to grow. This supposedly provides a better base for rhum production. I call marketing BS.

Depaz uses small charred barrels for aging, which means that color and flavor are imparted fairly quickly on the rhum. While there is no age statement, my guess is that this rhum is aged no more than a couple dozen months. Small barrels would over-oak the spirit after a relatively short amount of time.

Depaz Blue Cane

Nose: lots of green/vegetal cane notes, pepper, vanilla, a hint of oak, mocha. After adding a few drops of water, some nice raspberry/blackberry and honey notes emerge.

Taste: cane sugar sweetness up front, grass/vegetal/agave mid-palate, pepper, vanilla, a hint of oak, mocha. Dilution makes the palate flatter but more integrated.

Finish: bittersweet oak, grassy cane, light vanilla

I have rather mixed feelings about this rhum. On the one hand, I can't say that it's bad. It definitely gets better with time in the glass and a bit of water makes it much softer. It has a good nose and good body, but a less pleasant finish that I find overly grassy. It's bottled at a respectable 90-proof, but retains some unpleasantly rough edges. Ultimately I just don't think it brings anything to the table that I can't find in other rhums. It can't really compete on price (La Favorite Ambre and Neisson Éléve Sous Bois are roughly the same on a unit price basis and Saint James Royale Ambré is significantly cheaper). It doesn't have a particularly unique combination of flavors. So unless it's the only rhum agricole you can find in your area, there isn't a compelling reason to select it over other rhums. Pretty much the only thing is really has going for it is a really nice bottle design (big points to whatever design firm they hired).

Dreams of Cane
1.5 oz Depaz
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz ginger liqueur
0.5 oz orange liqueur

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The nose is dominated by the rhum's cane notes, along with a bit of malt from the ginger liqueur. The sip begins without a lot of sweetness. Lime comes in strong, followed by cane, ginger, and smooth orange notes. The finish is bittersweet, leaving the palate cleansed.

This is one of those drinks that feels like it's always about to spiral out of control, but somehow manages to hold together. Given that Depaz feels that way to me most of the time, it seemed appropriate. Ultimately I feel like Depaz is positioning itself similarly to young rye whiskeys: a rougher spirit that can fit well into cocktails where its flaws are balanced and complemented by other ingredients. While there's nothing particularly wrong with that, I stand by my earlier statement that there are better choices in the world of rhum agricole. Depaz just doesn't stand out in a way that makes me want to recommend it.

Rhum Agricole Review: Saint James Royal Ambré

Continuing my rhum agricole kick, this is the first of two reviews I'm going to be doing of aged rhums from the Saint James distillery on the French island of Martinique.

Saint James is the oldest distillery on the island in continuous operation. While rhum production goes back even further, the brand came out of a decision by Louis XV in 1763 to allow rhum from the island to be exported. The Saint James brand was established in 1765 near the town of Saint Pierre, with the name designed to appeal to English-speaking colonists in New England. Saint James is also distinguished by having put out the first vintage rhum on the island in 1885, which has continued ever since. Disaster struck in 1902 when Mount Pelée erupted, destroying Saint Pierre and most of the distillery's building. However, the main house largely survived. The distillery was consolidated on the other side of the island in the town of Saint Marie in 1974, where production has been located ever since.

The sugar cane harvest for Saint James begins in February and extends into summer. The cut cane is transported to the distillery as quickly as possible, where it is pressed in mills to extract the juice. The juice, or 'vessou', ferments naturally due to the yeast present in the cane. Fermentation is kept between 25-30º C and is fairly quick, taking only a day or two. The mash is at 4-5% alcohol when it is added to the column stills, which give a raw spirit of 65-74% alcohol. The fresh rhum is then either rested in steel vats for a few months to produce blanc rhum or aged in oak barrels to produce everything from their paille rhum to rhum vieux. Saint James has a fairly high angels share of 8% a year, which goes a long way towards explaining their prices.

Saint James Royal Ambré

Nose: oak, sweet berries, vanilla, slightly floral, strong grassy/cane note, somewhat harsh musty funk notes. After adding a few drops of water, the nose becomes a bit flatter, and while the grassy notes dominate at first, it eventually reveals creamy berries and very strong floral perfume notes.

Taste: dry cane up front, which becomes a bit sweeter and creamier mid-palate, a huge blast of pepper, a bit of oak and dry cacao near the back, which all smoothes out with time. After dilution, it becomes thinner, but sweeter and creamier, with lighter pepper and the addition of nutmeg and more cacao.

Finish: oak, vegetal, residual pepper heat, slightly bitter. After dilution it becomes raspberries, pepper, nutmeg, dry cacao/coffee.

This was the first rhum agricole I ever bought, largely because it was the only one available in Oregon at the time. My first taste was... not good... as the strong and somewhat harsh flavors were just too much for me to handle. So it got relegated to the back of my liquor stash. I've slowly worked through the bottle, with an experiment here and there, but now that I have a better appreciation for rhums, I've returned to find it a rather tasty dram.

Saint James Royal Ambré holds a position between the lightly aged Élevé Sous Bois and Paille rhums from various distilleries, which tend to be aged for about twelve months, and the VSOP and Vieux rhums, which tend to be aged for four to five years. Royal Ambré is aged for eighteen to twenty-four months, which is long enough to add quite a bit of oak-derived flavors while leaving the grassy, funky vegetal flavors of raw cane undimmed. The rhum is bottled at a very reasonable 45%, which gives it heft without making it quite as strong and ethereal as its 50% ABV brethren. Most notably, Royal Ambré is the only AOC rhum agricole I've seen in the States going for under $25 for a 750 mL bottle, which makes it an exceptionally good value. The closest I can find in the same range would be La Favorite Ambre, but it's a bit more expensive, younger, and requires committing to an entire liter bottle. If you're looking for a rhum, especially for making tiki drinks, Saint James is a pretty easy choice.

Hale Pele Mai Tai
1 oz Smith & Cross Jamaican rum
1 oz Saint James Royal Ambré
0.75 oz lime juice
0.5 orange liqueur
0.5 oz orgeat

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, then pour unstrained into a double rocks glass. Fill with crushed ice and add a sprig of mint for garnish.

The mint garnish dominates the nose, though some funk from the Jamaican rum also makes itself known. The sip begins with moderate orgeat and orange liqueur sweetness. But soon enough its time for the funk, with the Jamaican rum and rhum agricole tag teaming your taste buds. With time, the mint begins to infuse the drink, coming in around mid-palate, adding its herbal notes to the funky r(h)um esters.

This mai tai is a kick in the face - but in a good way. It is almost exactly the mai tai you'll get from Blair Reynolds' new tiki bar, Hale Pele. I tried one back on opening night and found it brash but delicious. While Smith & Cross is likely to be more attention-grabbing, the Saint James rhum is almost as important. I feel like it's the only rhum that's bold enough to stand up to all that unadulterated Jamaican funk. However, adding a little bit of extra orgeat seems to be important to both mellow and integrate the rough 'n ready flavors of r(h)ums, transforming them into something absolutely exquisite. This is stiff competition for the best mai tai I've ever had.

Rhum Agricole Review: Neisson Réserve Spéciale

I've reviewed Neisson's younger Élevé Sous Bois expression a few months ago, but I also managed to pick up their older Réserve Spéciale rhum (funny story - I got it for only a hair over $40, rather than the standard $60+, because a liquor store in Washington had it improperly entered into their system as the much cheaper blanc).

Neisson is one of the few AOC rhum agricole producers on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. It is one of the newer distilleries on the island of Maritinque, having been founded in 1932 by Jean and Adrien Neisson. Still under family ownership, it remains the smallest distillery on the island, with an output of only 400,000 liters a year (for scale, Glenfiddich distills roughly 10 million liters of scotch whisky every year). Their rhum is produced from sugarcane grown on their own 40 hectares of land, with all of the cane cut by hand. Juice is extracted mechanically from the cane, then fermented for 72 hours before distillation. The wash is distilled in column stills to ~70% ABV as required by the AOC.

I've gotten conflicting reports of the age of the rhums that are blended together to form the Réserve Spéciale expression. One source has it composed from rhums aged up to ten years. The distiller's website has the age listed as between 50 and 60 months, with an average of 53 months. I'm more inclined to believe the latter, as rhums seem to soak up oak tannins fairly quickly, but this rhum is pleasantly matured rather than over-oaked.

The rhum spends its first six months in 350 liter (not quite double the size of a standard 200 liter bourbon barrel or a bit bigger than a standard 300 liter wine barrique) Limousin oak casks, in the manner of French brandy. After that it is transferred to other oak casks that are no larger than 650 liters (port pipe size). That the rhum spends most of its life in fairly sizable oak containers goes a long way towards explaining the relatively low levels of oak tannins - Neisson seems to be aiming for more oxidation than wood extraction for its rhum. The rhum is finally bottled at 42%, which Neisson suggests is due to a combination of a large angel's share and 'annual topping'. This may mean that they fill up the barrels with understrength rhum or by adding water as the rhum ages. Neither their own web page (they could really stand to hire some better translators) or Google Translate is much help on that front.

Neisson Réserve Spéciale

Nose: plum pudding, red berries, blackberry jam, rich vanilla pastries, dusty oak, a little raw alcohol. After dilution, the nose shifts towards the jammy notes, with more vanilla and emerging floral notes.

Taste: barely sweet up front, a big wash of pepper, strong dry brandy flavors, fruity esters that become bitter going into the finish. After dilution, it becomes flatter overall with some sourness up front, grassy notes emerge along with cacao, which become sweeter over time.

Finish: brandy, pepper, dark berries, and a hint of oak.

I was genuinely surprised by just how much I liked this rhum. Much like the La Favorite Vieux that I reviewed last week, I initially wrote it off as over-oaked. However, now that my palate is a bit more developed, I can recognize it for the berry-fest it is. This rhum has the sweetest nose I've ever encountered outside of a Speyside sherry bomb. It's pure dessert and you're missing out on at least half the fun if you drink this spirit without spending time just smelling it. The taste is a dry in a somewhat disconcerting fashion after the nose, but this isn't particularly surprising - you can't actually smell sweetness, it's all a matter of your brain associating certain smells with sweetness and filling in what it expects to be there. So overall it makes for a very interesting contrast. Once again, I think this is a great pick for someone who enjoys scotch whisky, especially of the sherried variety, to broaden their horizons. The nose will be very friendly and recognizable. The flavors will be a bit more challenging, but worth trying to wrap your head around.

In terms of value, Réserve Spéciale is a bit trickier. It usually runs $60-70 for a liter, which is comparable in price to Clément VSOP, but more expensive than La Favorite Vieux and cheaper than Rhum J.M. VSOP. If you can find it for under $60, I'd say it's worth jumping on. Over that and I think you'll want to give it a try before committing to a whole bottle. But either way, Réserve Spéciale is a great sipper and a worthwhile addition to your collection.

While I've used this rhum in a cocktail before, I wanted to create something new to highlight it.

Firelight
2 oz Neisson Réserve Spéciale
0.25 oz sweet vermouth
0.25 oz dry vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 bar spoon falernum

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass

The nose is warm, with spices from the falernum and bitters along with a bit of rhum. The sip begins gently, moving into berry/wine sweetness, then fading through the spectrum of bitterness from the vermouths and Angostura, while sharp notes of ginger bounce around. Throughout it all, the rhum undergirds the other flavors, showing more assertiveness on the finish.

I decided to emphasize the more bitter aspects of this rhum with a Perfect Manhattan variation. The vermouths do keep it a bit on point by emphasizing the wine/brandy flavors of the rhum, while taking it in a more bitter direction with the falernum keeping it from getting out of hand. Overall a tasty drink.

Rhum Agricole Review: La Favorite Vieux

La Favorite is another of the small handful of distillers on the island of Martinique who are licensed to produce AOC rhum agricole. The distillery was built in 1842 and its ride through the rest of the 19th century was rather bumpy. In 1909 the distillery was bought by Henri Dormoy, whose family continues to own the distillery down to the present day. This makes La Favorite one of only two remaining family owned rhum agricole distilleries. The distillery now runs two copper single-column stills with an annual production of ~500,000 L. This makes it a bit bigger than the smallest rhum agricole distillery, Neisson, but still tiny on a global scale.

La Favorite Vieux 'Coeur de Rhum'

Nose: strong - but mildly sweet - oak, berries, vanilla, grassy notes, nutmeg, salty bacon. Dilution makes the oak a bit fresher, with the berries and vanilla holding strong, but overall much simpler.

Taste: mild creamy sweetness up front, with a large blast of pepper that continues through, grass, berries, brandy, and bitter oak going into the finish. After adding a few drops of water, the palate becomes rather flat, with only hints of its original features, mostly pared down to grassy bittersweet cane juice.

Finish: brandy, oak, pepper, almost peaty vegetal notes

As a rhum vieux, all of the spirit going into this expression has been aged for at least three years in either French limousin oak barrels or re-charred American oak ex-bourbon barrels. This rhum reminds me of Springbank/Hazelburn scotch whisky, with the mix of berries, vegetation, oak, and salted meat. After first pouring the spirit into the glass, the oak dominates in an unpleasant fashion, but after time it settles down, letting the berry notes take over. The one major flaw I can find is the low bottling proof, which doesn't help the rhum stand up to even minor amounts of dilution. The flavors could also stand to be a little bit bolder - even 43% could give it that extra nudge. That change alone would push this rhum way up the league table for me, as its unique flavor combination is very intriguing. On the upside, the lower proof does make it one of the easiest sippers neat that I've encountered in the world of aged rhums. Additionally, La Favorite Vieux is on the cheaper end of the spectrum at $50 for a liter bottle, which puts it well below comparable offerings from Clément, Saint James, Rhum J.M., or Neisson.

Whispers in the Cane
1.5 oz La Favorite Vieux
0.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse
0.25 oz Cherry Heering
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for 15 seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The nose is herbaceous oak with bittersweet cherry and a hint of anise. The sip begins silky smooth, moving through off-dry cherry, to grassy herbs, then dark chocolate and bitter oak tinged with anise. With time as the drink warms up, the smells and flavors become a single chord rather than separate notes.

This is an interesting cocktail. While I set out to buttress the inherent flavors of rhum agricole, this the Chartreuse/Heering combo is almost indistinguishable from the rhum, despite having rather strong flavors of their own. So it's a very 'on point' drink, with the ingredients reinforcing each other, rather than playing counterpoint.

Rhum Agricole Review: Neisson Élevé Sous Bois

Neisson is one of the newer distilleries on the island of Maritinque, having been founded in 1932 by Jean and Adrien Neisson. Still under family ownership, it remains the smallest distillery on the island, with an output of only 400,000 liters a year (for scale, Glenfiddich distills roughly 10 million liters of scotch whisky every year). Their rhum is produced from sugarcane grown on their own 40 hectares of land, with all of the cane cut by hand. Juice is extracted mechanically from the cane, then fermented for 72 hours before distillation. The wash is distilled in column stills to ~70% ABV as required by the AOC.

Élevé Sous Bois roughly translates as 'raised in wood' and Neisson's ESB is aged for 18 months in large 20,000 liter vats (for context, a standard barrel used for bourbon or scotch is ~200 liters). This means that there is relatively little wood contact, so the edges are smoothed off the raw spirit without imparting too many woody flavors. The rhum is then brought down to 50% ABV for bottling.

Neisson Élevé Sous Bois

Nose: sugarcane, honey, a bit of vanilla and woody baking spices, green fruits (apples and pears), pineapple, funky esters, something reminiscent of a scotch whisky wine finish, red berries, cinnamon applesauce, vegetal, but overall a bit thin and somewhat sharp. After adding a couple of drops of water, the nose becomes reminiscent of a Speyside single malt, with more honied vanilla sweetness, while retaining some funky esters and vegetal grassy notes, overall becoming creamier but a bit flatter.

Taste: only slightly sweet sugarcane up front, with a bit of sharp acidic attack not far behind, some woody bittersweet chocolate and nutmeg comes in with an almost malty creaminess mid-palate, while vegetal flavors build towards the back, where winey brandy notes emerge. After adding water, the palate becomes sweeter with less acidic attack, overall becoming flatter like the nose.

Finish: clears quickly, with a bit of brandy residue and grassy oak

Neisson's ESB is an interesting contrast to the Rhum J.M. ESB that I reviewed earlier this year. While I would give a bit of an edge to the J.M., Neisson's offering does have a few things to recommend it. The slightly lighter flavors make it a bit more approachable and the honied, almost sherried character really does remind me of a Speyside single malt like Balvenie Founder's Reserve, overlaid on the traditional grassy, vegetal notes of a rhum agricole. I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of finish and how much it loses after dilution, but I suppose there's a good reason why it's bottled at 100-proof.

If you're a malt head looking to expand your palate to other spirits, this wouldn't be a bad way to dip a toe into the wild world of rhums. And while it's a bit on the expensive side for a rum, usually running into the mid-$40 range for a liter bottle, it's quite tasty and not too bad if you're used to single malt prices.

This rhum is not best suited to a daiquiri, unless you like 'em really funky. The lime seems to bring out the vegetal notes more than anything else, while the sweetness struggles to keep up. There some nice barrel spice notes, though the finish is a little rough. Unfortunately this is why I initially wrote Neisson off, as I was only interested in making cocktails and the daiquiri was my method for judging rums. So it was relegated to the back corner of my liquor cabinet, until I became more acquainted with neat spirits and decided to give it another go. However, with a little work, I think it can be made to fit reasonably well into a cocktail.

Neisson Negroni
1 oz Neisson ESB
1 oz Campari
0.75 oz sweet vermouth
0.5 tsp chocolate spiced rum

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for 15 seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The nose is fruity, funky, and bitter, reflecting all of the ingredients in turn. The rhum seems to drag out just a few more berry notes from the Campari and vermouth. The sip opens smoothly, but not exactly sweetly, segueing into the traditional Campari flavors, but with overtones from the rhum lifting the drink and adding some grassy funk near the swallow. The chocolate spiced rum isn't assertive, but adds just a bit more chocolate, spice, and pepper near the back.

I snagged this drink from The Speakista, with slight modifications. I don't have any chocolate bitters, but the cacao nibs in my chocolate spiced rum seemed like a respectable substitution. Overall I think it's a good match for the Neisson, which is just smooth enough to blend harmoniously with the other ingredients.

Rhum Agricole Reviews: Rhum J.M. VSOP

This is a continuation in my series reviewing the Rhum J.M. line of rhum agricole. The VSOP expression has been aged for a minimum of four years in American oak and French Limousin oak casks. This makes is several times older than the élevé sous bois expression and about half as old as the 1997 Vintage above it.

Nose: grassy, mild brown sugar, yeast, light alcohol, a touch of vanilla, gingerbread cookies, which becomes a bit more rum-like with water, gaining toffee and more sweet vanilla

Taste: lightly sweet up front, switching to grass, herbs (anise and fennel), brandy and toffee, which becomes creamier and reveals nutmeg after adding a bit of water

Finish: vegetal brandy, fairly short

This rhum is definitely a step up from the élevé sous bois bottling in terms of refinement and the nuance of the flavors. Age has made it a bit drier and more of the spice characteristics have emerged. Nutmeg seems to be a particularly strong element in the aged J.M. rhums, along with the usual grassy brandy flavors. It's set up well for sipping neat, both because of the extra time in the barrel and because its at a slightly more gentle 90-proof. I got incredibly lucky and was able to find this rhum for ~$35. It usually goes for $55-60, so that was quite a deal. Obviously I stocked up and hopefully I should have enough to last years if not decades. At the regular price it's a little bit hard to justify over either Rhum J.M. Gold, which has a much smaller unit price, or Clément VSOP, which is at least as good and a bit cheaper. And while Rhum J.M. VSOP is an incredibly good sipper, it also makes some rather solid cocktails. Much like the Clément VSOP, it's a shoe-in for a Donga Punch. The balance with Rhum J.M. VSOP is absolutely fantastic, with the rhum, grapefruit, lime and cinnamon syrup in perfect tension, making it hard not to drink it all down in one go. As a side note, white grapefruit, which also gets sold as 'Cocktail Citrus', is in stores right now and makes much better drinks than its pink cousin. There's something almost spicy about white grapefruit juice and it adds quite a bit of vibrancy to tiki drinks.

Macouba Punch
1.5 oz rhum agricole
0.5 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz grapefruit juice
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz passionfruit syrup
0.25 oz blackberry brandy
1 dash Angostura bitters
6 drops Herbsaint

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and pour unstrained into a chilled rocks glass.

This is a slight tweak on the Don's Beach Planter from Jeff Berry's Sippin' Safari, by replacing the pineapple juice with grapefruit and bumping up the r(h)ums by 50% to keep them from disappearing among the strong fruit flavors. The balance ends up being pretty good. The grapefruit and passionfruit synergize nicely, actually producing a flavor not too far off from pineapple, which confused me a bit when I took the first sip. The r(h)ums are right behind, with the funky notes hooking up with the Angostura bitters and Herbsaint. Overall this is another potent tiki drink that sneaks up on you, but provides a very satisfying experience.

Rhum Agricole Reviews: Rhum J.M. Élevé Sous Bois

Last week I reviewed the youngest member of the Rhum J.M. line. Next up is their Gold or Élevé Sous Bois (rough trans. "raised under wood") expression. This is a lightly aged rhum agricole that spent 12 months in small, new oak barrels before being bottled. That added a golden hue to the rhum and also quite a bit of complexity.

Nose: crême brulée, peanut butter cookies, grass, lemon and lime peel, a tiny wiff of vanilla and mild alcohol, which transforms into brown sugar, molasses, oak and butter after adding a bit of water

Taste: sweet and sour up front, nutmeg, grassy vegetal funk, and brandy further back, followed by a burst of pepper, which becomes a bit creamier after adding water

Finish: grassy brandy with a hint of blackberries and raspberries, which gains a bit of cookie flavor after dilution

For having spent only a year in the barrel, this spirit has gained a lot of flavors that aren't found its younger sibling. While primarily designed for use in cocktails, I'm actually quite happy sipping this rhum, especially after bringing down the strength just a bit. I find it quite interesting how water brings out more traditional molasses-based rum flavors in the nose, while retaining rhum agricole flavors on the palate.

While this rhum can be a little bit on the pricy side, the fact that it usually comes in 1 L rather than 750 mL bottles here in the states helps to keep the unit cost a little bit more manageable level. However you happen to enjoy it, this is an excellent spirit to add to your stash. Especially if you want a single rhum agricole to do double duty as both a sipper and for cocktails, this would be high on my list of recommendations.


Lune de Miel sur Martinique
1.5 oz rhum agricole élevé sous bois

0.5 oz lime juice

0.5 oz orange liqueur

0.25 oz Bénédictine

0.125 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This drink is based on the Honeymoon Cocktail, which is itself a subtle tweak of the standard Sidecar. On the nose, the drink presents you with subdued herbal grassiness from the rhum and Bénédictine, with a nice dose of orange thrown in from the liqueur. The orange liqueur as leads the charge on the sip, which transitions into somewhat sharper and slightly bitter flavors from the Bénédictine and rhum, while the lime juice can be detected throughout, giving it a bit of snap. Put another way, it begins with a more tropical feel and then switches to something more like a classic cocktail. The high proof of the rhum agricole helps to keep up the backbone of the drink without becoming dominant. Overall I really like this cocktail because of the range of flavors that emerge as the drink crosses your palate and the drier finish that makes it decidedly more-ish.

Rhum Agricole Review: Rhum J.M. Blanc

This is the first in a series of reviews about the Rhum J.M. line of rhum agricole.

The Rhum J.M. distillery is located, as with all A.O.C. marque rhum agricoles, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. It dates back to 1845, when Jean-Marie Martin, whose initials are still affixed to the distillery, bought the Fonds Préville sugar plantation. The distillery passed through a number of hands over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, finally being bought by Gustave Crassous de Médeuil in 1914. Since then it has stayed in the hands of his descendants and relatives.

The distillery is situated on the northern end of the island in the shadow of Mt. Pelée. This is an active volcano, most notably wiping out the city of St. Pierre in 1902. While its position is risky, this location provides excellent volcanic soils for growing sugar cane as well as bananas and pineapples. All of the steps of rhum agricole production are carried out on the estate. Beginning with growing and harvesting the sugar cane, which is pressed within one hour after it is harvested to produce cane juice, which is then fermented, distilled and aged.

Rhum J.M. Blanc is the youngest rhum agricole in their line. It is rested in stainless steel tanks for four months before being cut down to 100-proof and bottled. This makes for a very fresh rhum that is clearly an agricultural product. While some of its flavors can be a little off-putting for someone who is more used to smooth, mellow, vanilla-tinged white rums, rhum agricole blanc has its own charms. In some respects it is analogous to blanco tequila, which also tends to be be aggressively agricultural with a few rough edges that have not been smoothed by the brief rest before bottling.

Nose: funky apples and pears, alcohol, a wisp of vanilla, citrus, which becomes slightly less intense with water

Taste: light sugar cane sweetness up front, apples and raspberries mid-palate, shifting to citrus and the funky apples and pears near the back, which also becomes a bit softer with water and gains a bit of hogo near the back of the throat

Finish: a replay of the nose in flavors, which lingers with a bit of burn from the alcohol

While this rhum is an interesting experience neat, its real purpose is in cocktails. The classic choice would be the Ti' Punch and, as I mentioned above, it subs in to recipes calling for blanco tequila, like a Margarita, quite nicely. It also makes for an interesting twist on cocktails that call for white rum.

Hemingway Daiquiri
1.5 oz rhum agricole blanc
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz grapefruit juice
0.35 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass that has been rinsed with Maraschino liqueur.

This is hands down one of my favorite summertime drinks. The crispness of the rhum meshes with the bitter/spicy sweetness of the Maraschino perfectly while the sour lime and bitter grapefruit give it plenty of snap. For an extra-chilly drink, make it frappé style by blending the ingredients with a handful of crushed ice and pouring the liquid over a chilled glass full of crushed ice. It's like a Slurpy, but infinitely better.

While the recipe originally called for white rum and I like it a lot with Flor de Caña Extra Dry, the rhum agricole blanc adds another dimension to the drink. The funkiness of the rhum syncs with the bitter cherry notes of the Maraschino and just rides over the fruit juices. Surprisingly, the Rhum J.M. doesn't overwhelm the drink even though it's 100-proof. Lastly, it's best to go a little easy on the sugar as the Maraschino rinse will add a bit of sweetness and the drink it meant to be snappy.

Overall, I think Rhum J.M. Blanc is a great choice if you're looking for a blanc rhum agricole. The only downside is that it tends to be on the pricey side. Some of this is simply the fact that agricoles go for more than their molasses-based brethren, but J.M. Blanc is roughly the same price as Neisson and a bit more than La Favorite, the other two standard rhum agricole brands. However, if you happen to live in Washington, J.M. Blanc is currently discounted by ~$10 compared to the more standard price found down here in Oregon. I'd say that it's a good deal in the mid-30s, but a harder sell above $40/L. At that point there will probably only be a few dollars between the blanc and the slightly aged and significantly more complex J.M. Elévé Sous Bois, which will be reviewed in the next post of this series.