Savanna Art of Rum by REPY AGA 2019

Savanna is a Reunion distillery known for working in several traditions at once, fresh cane juice agricole, molasses rum and a high ester, long fermentation Grand Arome style that is intensely funky. This release brings those threads together, mostly cane juice agricole with a measured dose of Grand Arome, and the result is a vivid, savoury rum quite unlike a clean agricole or a sweet aged molasses rum.

The nose and palate run to olives and brine, fermented red fruit, herbs and bitter orange, with the green snap of cane and a young oak edge from a few tropical years in ex-bourbon casks. At 57% and bottled unsweetened it is bold, sharp and concentrated, with the Grand Arome esters lending an almost fruit schnapps intensity that needs time and air to settle. This is a deliberately characterful bottle aimed at drinkers who already enjoy young Savanna or olive driven, high ester profiles. Those who prefer polished sweetness will find it too sharp and strange, which is rather the point.