Comercializadora Pame S.A. Sol Tarasco Charanda Rum

Sol Tarasco is a charanda, the protected cane spirit of the Michoacan highlands in Mexico, distilled and bottled here by Comercializadora Pame and carrying eight years of age. Charanda sits in its own niche, a regional Mexican style built on local cane grown at altitude, and this one comes to bottle at a gentle 40%.

Maturation is in Ex-Bourbon oak, the usual route for an aged molasses or cane rum, and the wood shows clearly. The nose opens woody with citrus and a thread of chocolate, while the palate turns earthy and unexpectedly smoky, with a peaty, almost mineral edge that gives it more grip than the modest strength suggests. There is no listed sweetening, and the overall impression is of a dry, oaky sipper with a rustic, savoury character rather than a soft caramel one. A curiosity for anyone wanting to see what Mexico does with cane outside the usual tourist bottlings.