Payet & Rivière Rhum Agricole Sur Nos Pistes

Payet et Riviere is a Reunion producer working in the agricole manner from fresh pressed sugar cane juice, and this blanc is bottled unaged at a punchy 50.3%, the kind of higher proof that suits a young cane juice rum and gives a cocktail real lift. With no barrel involved, the spirit speaks for itself, all freshness and snap.

The profile is vivid and a little wild: fresh sugar cane and a sweet topnote give way to green olive, citrus and a faint smoky, medicinal edge, with an oily texture carrying it through. The finish stays saline and herbal with a twist of lemon peel. It runs in the same lane as bright island blancs from Pere Labat or Sublim Canne but with extra power, made for drinkers who like their agricole lively and want a base that can stand up in a Ti Punch.