Engenhos do Norte 970 Single Cask Edition 2010

Engenhos do Norte is a Madeira distillery, one of the few places outside the French islands legally able to use the term rhum agricole, and its 970 Single Cask Edition 2010 is an eleven year old from fresh pressed sugarcane juice. Column distilled and matured in the Madeira wine casks the distillery favours, then bottled at cask strength of 52.8% from a single barrel, it is a distinctive marriage of cane juice spirit and fortified wine wood.

The nose is bold and characterful, with fruit, spice and a burnt, faintly rubbery edge, while the palate stays fruity and spicy with oily texture and wood. The Madeira influence really shows on the finish, which turns rich with caramel, sweetness, honey and chocolate. Elegant and well balanced, it shows strong berry and dried fruit notes from the wine cask layered over the agricole base, a natural sweetness coming from the wood rather than additives. This is a singular, generous island agricole for drinkers who enjoy cane juice rum given real depth by fortified wine maturation, best sipped neat with a little time in the glass.