This rhum agricole from Trois Rivières is a rather interesting expression. It's made with sugar cane grown in fields on the south coast of Martinique, very close to the sea, which imparts a subtle coastal kick to the resulting unaged rhum! Fascinating stuff.
Cut grass and raspberry, with a touch of sea breeze wafting in.
Full-on funky fruit sweetness (passion fruit and tinned peaches), balanced by pink peppercorn and red chilli spice.
Salted crackers, citrus peels and a touch of fennel.
For a long time I was living under a wrong assumption that rums are always sweet and therefore have to be cut with some mixer to get the balance right. After reading more about the topic I decided to dive into rhum agricole as it's not sweetened. What an eye opener! Cuvée de l’Ocean is fantastic, maybe a bit different from mainstream agricoles due to high level of perceived saltiness but it delivers great tasting experience. I tried it in Ti Punch, it was very sensitive to acidity of few drops of lime juice, so some care have to be taken to tune it to one's liking. On itself, is very balanced, especially for an unaged spirit. My 2c worth of tasting: Nose: squashed strawberries, sweet, orange zest, fresh juicy grass, white dry wine, salt. Palate: dusty, biscuit-y coating, very salty brine, nutty Finish: waxy, mineral coating, salt, short but moreish, warm I give it 4.5/5 as I am sure there are still better ones out there, but this one's a keeper!
For my husband, this is the best rhum ever (he comes from Martinique). He says the light salty taste is something that he never found in any other rhum and makes all the difference!
