Arcane Banane Flambée

Arcane is a Mauritian brand, and this Banane Flambee is a flavoured rum rather than a straight agricole, so it is best taken for what it is. The base is a molasses rum run on a column still, then flavoured and sweetened around a flambeed banana theme and bottled at 40%, a soft, dessert leaning spirit a long way from a dry cane juice white.

The banana is front and centre, with sweet, sugary and lemon notes on the nose and chocolate, fruit and a light wood on the palate. It is unambiguously sweet, the kind of bottle that works as an aperitif or in a cocktail rather than as a serious neat sipper. The finish keeps the candied banana and a syrupy sweetness going. Pleasant and aromatic on its own terms, this is a flavoured mixer for those who enjoy a ripe banana sweetness, not an agricole in any traditional sense.