Charrette Héritage Vieux V.O.

Charrette is one of Reunion's best known brands, and this Heritage Vieux VO is a three year old aged rum from fresh pressed sugarcane juice, column distilled and matured in ex-bourbon wood before bottling at 40%. The VO designation signals a vieux style, and it reads as a gentle, accessible aged Reunion agricole rather than a powerful one.

The nose is led by wood and leather, and the palate follows with woody, vegetal notes and a noticeable sweetness, closing on more wood and sweet oak. At 40% it is soft and rounded, and some drinkers find it almost too easy and sweet to sip neat with full attention, missing a little of the grassy bite that defines younger agricole. It is a pleasant, undemanding vieux that suits relaxed sipping over ice or a place in a stirred drink. Honest about its softness, it makes a fair everyday introduction to aged Reunion cane juice rum without aiming for great depth.