Savanna Traditionnel Type G2 (Staff Selection) 2006

Savanna on Reunion makes several distinct rum families, and this Traditionnel Type G2 is from its molasses side rather than its cane juice agricole, a 2006 staff selection bottled at cask strength 59.4% off the Savalle still. It is honest molasses rum, aged 11 years in ex-bourbon oak, and built for drinkers who like dry, spicy intensity.

The Savalle still gives a medium body, and the oak drives the profile: a nose of wood, mint, medicinal notes and tobacco, a palate of pepper, caramel, tobacco and nutmeg, then a spicy, caramel-and-oak finish with a dry close. Warm, peppery and herbal over darker fruit and a menthol thread, it is intense and characterful. A serious after-dinner molasses rum for slow sipping, distinct from the fresh, grassy agricole the island also produces.