By Lauren Viera, Special to Tribune Newspapers
4:16 pm, May 2, 2014
With summer on the horizon, mojitos and daiquiris are poised for heavy rotation on the patio circuit. But before you reach for the same old bottle of gold or spiced rum, consider an upgrade: rhum agricole.
French for agricultural rum, rhum agricole is a unique style of rum that’s finding its way into more American bars and liquor stores as demand for high-quality spirits continues to grow. Originating from the island of Martinique, where volcanic soil fosters prime growing conditions for sugar cane, rhum agricole differs from other rums in that it’s made from distilled cane juice, rather than distilled molasses. Because its production process yields more flavors from actual sugar cane stalks than molasses-based rums, it’s less saccharine.
Especially for rum drinkers who’ve never strayed from mainstream white, gold and spiced rum, the taste of rhum agricole is an acquired one. Ben Jones, North American regional director and spokesman for Martinique-based Rhum Clement, explains.
“It’s a very dry and earthy, vegetal flavor profile, very different from the sort of medium-sweet, heavier, stickier profile that you get with the molasses foundation,” says Jones. “Fresh-pressed sugar cane juice is dry, not sweet. What makes molasses sweet is reducing it to super-concentrated sugar used for alcohol. Actual sugar, while it’s sweet, is not as sweet as people would perceive. It’s fruity and grassy, and the distillate of rhum agricole is really, truly the cleanest form of that distillate. The pun is horrible, but it’s like grass to glass.”
Though it may not appeal to pedestrian rum drinkers, rhum agricole tends to be popular among whiskey drinkers, as Depaz Rhum spokeswoman Stephanie Rubin explains. “It’s going to have a nose, and a complexity of a whiskey or a fine tequila. Both of those are very mixable, and they bring characteristics to what they make.” She suggests trying rhum agricole in a mojito, for starters. “If someone wanted to ask their bartender to try something different, this would be the drink that I would suggest. It’s a rum, but it’s not a rum.”
There are only a dozen or so rhum agricole makers in the French Caribbean (in addition to those in Martinique, there are a few distilleries in Guadeloupe), and about half are available in the U.S. For starters, Rhum Clement’s Select Barrel ($30), aged three years, is an easy transition from typical aged rums. A bit more on the interesting side are Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole ($28), and Rhum J.M. ESB Gold ($35), which is aged just 12 months yet is surprisingly mellow. For a purer rhum agricole sample, reach for Rhum Damoiseau’s Virgin Cane Rum ($32). Aged just a handful of months, this Guadeloupe rhum agricole is as grassy as it gets.
