INDUSTRY | 001
Natural, Aged, Agricole
RUM is always made from Molasses (an industrial by product of sugar production) while Rhum Agricole is made DIRECTLY from freshly pressed sugarcane juice. Rhum Agricole can be made only when the sugarcane is at its peak of maturity, limiting production to a short season of approximately three months – from early March in southern Martinique through late May in northern Martinique. Upon harvest, the sugarcane is immediately pressed to extract the free run juice, which naturally ferments with organic yeast. The careful production process of Rhum Agricole results in a pure spirit, encompassing the natural aromas and earthy, vegetal character of the sugarcane.
“The difference between Rhum Agricole and other rums has been compared to the difference between American Whiskey and Single Malt,” says Benjamin Melin Jones, Managing Director of Rhum Clement. The bulbous aromas and classic cane flavors in Rhum Agricole are captured in the long fermentation process and a lower distilling ABV. This makes for a sharp contrast with molasses based rums. At the height of the great sugar crisis, sugar production came to a halt and the molasses, from which rum was distilled, was no longer available. Rum making was analyzed and mimicked the French distillers of great Armagnacs to perfect his method of rum production known today as Rhum Agricole. Sugarcane was treated like a fruit and pressed like grapes to extract their fresh natural juice and fermented. The complexities and nuances of Rhum Agricole are now being re-discovered by a new generation of rum connoisseurs. The unique flavor profile of Rhum Agricole makes way for the creation of stellar and memorable rum cocktails, capturing the attention of the growing mixology community and cocktail aficionados. The aged varieties are comparable to fine small batch Bourbons Single Malts and Cognacs; and are becoming increasingly recognized as smooth and stellar sipping spirits like El Supremo Rum 8yo and 12yo.
