Agricole Rum, France / Martinique

The Fonds-Préville plantation and sugar refinery was originally founded in 1790, before later being bought and turned into a distillery by Jean-Marie Martin in 1845. And so the brand JM was born. After falling into the hands of the Crassous de Médeuil family in 1912, it has been owned by the Bernard Hayot Group since 2002, who completely renovated and upgraded the facilities in 2013. Distilled in a traditional copper Creole still, this version was aged in an American charred new oak cask on site. The remarkably well-rounded flavour and aroma palette is studded with fruity, floral, spicy and woody notes.

TASTING NOTES

Nose : Refined, voluptuous. The deep first nose is apricoty, exotic (mango, persimmon) and floral (lavender, purple lilac). Allowed to breathe, the same fruits become candied and aromas of chocolate, toffee and dried fruit and nuts (dates, almonds) appear.

Appearance : Orange copper.

Palate : Lively, distinguished. The vanilla attack is criss-crossed with flavors of cane sugar. Next, fine spices (cinnamon, ginger) bring lots of energy to a mid-palate characterized by citrus fruit zest (orange, clementine).

Overall : Long, silky. At the start of the finish, cocoa powder softly coats the taste buds. The tertiary (dried leaves, mushroom) and exotic (mango, guava) end of the finish is livened up by notes of Espelette pepper.