Saint James Fleur de Canne Vieux

Saint James, the historic Martinique house dating to 1765, made this Fleur de Canne Vieux as a five-year aged agricole from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice. Distilled on a column still and matured in ex-bourbon, it qualifies for the AOC Vieux tier, the tropical ageing giving a five-year rum more depth than the number suggests.

Released at 42% with no added sugar, it noses on wood, creme brulee, white chocolate and baked apple, then drinks spicy and layered with fruitcake, barrel and dried apricot, finishing dry and floral with wood and a clear agricole stamp. The wood brings a rich, dessert-like sweetness of flavour while the spirit stays dry and complex underneath, the cane core never lost beneath the oak. A well-rounded aged agricole that drinks above its modest price, rewarding neat sipping for drinkers who like maturity and an array of fruit-and-spice facets in the glass.