Rhum agricole
Rum distilled from fresh-pressed sugar cane juice, not molasses, mostly in Martinique and Guadeloupe — grassy, green and earthy, nothing like the sweet rums most people know.
grassy · vegetal · earthy
Kinds
- Blanc
- Unaged or briefly rested, usually 50–55%: the grassiest.
- Élevé sous bois
- A year or so in oak: rounder.
- Vieux
- At least three years in oak: for sipping.
If you can't find it
Specialist spirit shops.
The same
You lose some of the grassy funk — but it's also made from fresh cane juice.
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Martinique's AOC on the label guarantees fresh-cane-juice rum made to set rules. A 50% blanc is the one for drinks.
- Worth knowing
- Ti' punch is how it's drunk in Martinique: a coin of lime squeezed into the glass, a spoon of cane syrup, a pour of blanc, little or no ice. It also carbonates beautifully with clarified lime and sugar.