Dillon Rhum Vieux Agricole Hors d‘Âge 2004

Dillon is a Martinique distillery, and this Vieux Agricole Hors d'Age is a 2004 vintage aged 12 years and bottled unsweetened under the AOC at 43%. Pressed from fresh cane juice rather than molasses, it carries the dry, spice-forward signature that sets aged agricole apart from sweeter molasses rum, with tropical-influenced ageing adding maturity.

Maturation in ex-bourbon oak rounds it gently: a nose of vanilla, wood, raisin and fruit, a palate of vanilla, wood, honey and dry oak, then a woody, fruity, dry finish. Grassy and floral touches keep the cane present beneath the wood, and a slight acidity on the nose sets it apart. Complex yet softly proofed, it is an elegant, dry old agricole housed in a handsome decanter, made for unhurried neat sipping.