A guide to rhum agricole
How much do you know about rhum agricole? If you’re not familiar with this diverse, distinctive, and delicious spirit, then you need to become acquainted. We can help.
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The grassy, floral, fruity, and funky spirit that is Rhum Agricole is one of our favourites. It can be mixed and matched in cocktails or with food, it’s beautiful aged or unaged and it often serves as a great representation of the place it’s from. Notably the French Caribbean islands where it was developed and is beloved today.
But that’s not the case for everyone. To the uninitiated, it's a rum that’s spelled wrong and one that smells like a freshly opened can of sweetcorn. It’s a ‘challenging’ outsider. It has been accepted by bartenders and rum geeks like us, but we want to spread the good word further.
As our good friend Peter Holland (of That Boutique-y Rum fame) says, “When you get people down to a blanc agricole then they’re really screwed. There really is no way back”. So, here’s our guide to all things rhum agricole, how it’s made, how to drink it, and why you’ll love it.
What is rhum agricole?
The majority of rum is made from molasses, a byproduct of refining sugar cane. You crush the cane, extract the juice, then boil it and are left with two substances. One is the crystals of sugar you sprinkle over your Weetabix, and the other is molasses, a thick, black, sticky residue not unlike treacle. You can also filter and evaporate sugar cane juice to make sugar cane honey and make rum from that.
But if you don't boil the sugar cane juice and instead simply ferment and then distil it, you end up with something very different, a spirit that reflects the character of the raw material more directly. Examples of sugar cane spirits include the Haitian clairin, or cachaça (yes, that thing you enjoyed in a Caipirinha on the beach). But the most famous example is rhum agricole. The style originated in French Caribbean countries like Martinique and Guadeloupe (the ‘h’ in ‘rhum’ is not a typo, it’s a spirit with French heritage), but today you can find agricole in Madeira, Thailand, or even Australia.
Rhum agricole is different from what most people think of when they talk about rum because of where it’s made and how it’s drunk. The expectation for rum is that it’s sweet and easily mixable with cola to people in countries like the UK. So they often won’t have been exposed to rhum agricole in the right context. It’s not like it’s a product you find on supermarket shelves or bar menus regularly. That’s why understanding how it’s made is the first step to truly appreciating rhum agricole.
Head distiller Quentin Brival and farmer Anthony Chiesa in the family-owned sugar cane fields of Husk Distillers in Australia. (Yes, Australia!)
How is rhum agricole made?
One of the homes of rhum agricole is Martinique, about 90% of which is covered in sugar cane. It also has a strict geographical indication called the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée Martinique Rhum Agricole, a guideline that dictates production and also works as a handy introduction to the way Rhum Agricole is made.
The process starts with only fresh crushed sugar cane juice, no syrup or molasses. The juice must be squeezed within three hours after the cane is harvested, with the harvest running from November to March. The leftover material mass of the cane (bagasse) is used as a biofuel for the mills.
The sugar cane juice is directly fed into open fermenters to ensure you attain all the flavours and atmosphere from the environment. Both natural yeast and a drop of cultivated yeast are used. The liquid you get from that, the vinasse, goes into column stills without rectification, and it must come off the still at 71% ABV. Other rums may be distilled much higher, but the delicate flavours of the sugarcane are preserved this way.
The distillate then goes into vats for three months to three years. It’s mostly bottled un-aged, and referred to as blanc (white) due to its clear colour, but referring to agricole as white rum can be confusing for those used to Bacardi or Malibu. You can also age it in bourbon or virgin French oak casks. The leftover vinasse becomes fertiliser.
Crucially, you cannot add or alter anything. No colour, no sugar. What you see, in terms of colour and what you taste, is just the natural effect of the wood on the raw material. Just the pure distilled expression of the sugar cane juice. Most agricole will be made in a process similar to the above, although other producers don’t necessarily have to conform to as strict methods.
That means that agricole is an example of a spirit that displays terroir, which means it expresses the character of its natural environment. With sugar cane produced by the sea, you’ll get salty, coastal properties, while bananas, guavas, pineapples and coconuts that feed into the soil locally will create an array of flavours too.
Rhum agricole can be enjoyed neat or in a variety of serves.
How to drink rhum agricole
Appreciating the love and attention that goes into this style of rhum is one route to understanding it, but if you don’t like the taste your rhum agricole adventure will be short-lived. The complex flavours should appeal to drinkers who love the likes of mezcal and whisky and get very geeky about their booze, as they tend to be open to flavours deemed challenging. As with Tequila, it’s a good idea to start with the aged products first if you’re new to the spirit as you’ll no doubt be familiar with the kind of flavours oak maturation brings: vanilla, caramel, baking spices etc. The raw rhum flavour is tempered in these expressions, so you get a more gentle introduction.
Of course, you can’t really go wrong with cocktails. The traditional Ti Punch is a simple and tasty serve that’s just lime, sugar, and rhum. Twists on the classics and punches like a Dirty Martini to show off those briney notes are great too. Try a piece of 75% dark chocolate with rhum agricole and see how well food works with it. In Martinique, rhum agricole is often served with saltfish accra, while Guadeloupe will have dishes like the pillowy, deep-fried bread bokit or féwòs, the French Caribbean answer to avocado that makes a dish that’s like a spicy guac with scotch bonnet chillies.
Rhum agricole to try
Here’s a selection of delicious rhum agricole that will prove this category deserves your time and love.
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