Chatel Punch Passion

Chatel is a Reunion house producing rhum arrange and punch by steeping fruit in rum, and this Punch Passion is built around passion fruit. It is a flavoured, sweetened, low-proof spirit, best understood as a fruit punch rather than a rum to scrutinise.

Passion fruit leads plainly on nose and palate, ripe and tropical and easy to pick out, carried on a cane-juice base distilled on a column still. At just 16% it is very light, soft and openly sweet, the sort of punch made for serving very cold or stretching in a long drink. This is an uncomplicated, holiday-style passion-fruit pour, honest about being a sugary tropical infusion rather than a structured rum. Taken on those relaxed terms, it delivers exactly what it sets out to: a simple, fruity refreshment with a gentle rum base.