Fierceboy's blog post - Rhum Agricole

So a few days ago (the 16th of August to be exact) was National Rum Day and I celebrated by doing hours of studious research on rum. Ok, I also celebrated by breaking my "no-drinking during the work week" rule and swilling shot after shot of rum but I DID do research on the subject too, I swear!

In my drunken studies I came across "rhum" and "rhum agricole" over and over and kept getting pissed off at the stupid French for putting an "h" in my rum. As is often the case for me, anger lead to discovery and then to enlightenment and finally (today) enlightenment lead to bliss.

I found that "Rhum Agricole" is a very complex type of rum made by only a few distilleries on Guadeloupe and Martinique that are governed by the AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlee). Basically this means that to be labeled as rhum agricole a spirit must be produced from 100% pure sugarcane juice as opposed to most rums that are made from molasses. Some of the distilleries take this a step further insisting that their sugarcane be pressed within an hour of being cut in the fields!

Rhum agricole is also distilled at a somewhat lower proof than other rums to capture more of the "terroir" which wine snobs will recognize means the spirit of the earth in which the ingredients for a distillation is grown. Very few distilled spirits can claim terroir and it makes for a wonderfully complex and vibrant taste.

Which brings me to the previously mentioned, "bliss." Today my bottle of Duquesne Rhum Agricole arrived in the post. Of course, I had to sample it before I added to my bar so that I would know what I might be serving people this weekend. Holy screaming FUCK this stuff is good!! Amazing grassy notes beautifully blended with hints of oak and vanilla from the aging process (oak barrels for 18 months) and so crystal clean! It's to ordinary rum as single-malt scotch is to bourbon, the taste is that different. I could drink this whole bottle right now which is why I've given it to FG2 to hide from me. We're already planning what mixed drinks to have it with this weekend!

Hopefully you get a chance to enjoy some of this or something like it. As a final warning, don't get the "rhum" from Haiti unless you are just trying to do your part to repair their totaled economy or something... theirs is not AOC controlled.