Engenhos do Norte Rum Agricola de Distilled in Pot Still (Limited Release) 2020

Madeira is one of the few places legally entitled to the term rhum agricole, and Engenhos do Norte presses fresh sugar-cane juice for this limited release distilled on a pot still rather than the usual column. Bottled unsweetened from a 2020 vintage, it offers a distinctive island take on the cane-juice tradition.

The pot still gives it a fuller, more characterful expression of the cane: vivid sugar-cane and a vegetal lift on the nose with green apple and a green-olive note, then baked apple, citrus and a copper-tinged minerality across the palate and a peppery, vegetal finish. The metallic, saline edge is a signature of the style rather than a flaw, and at 46.6% it stays approachable while keeping plenty of snap. It works neat, in a Daiquiri or in Ti' Punch, without tipping into the wild ester intensity of the heaviest rums.