Engenhos do Norte Single Cane (Purple) 2022

Engenhos do Norte Single Cane (Purple) 2022 is a rhum agricole from Madeira, one of the few places outside the French islands legally entitled to the agricole name, distilled from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice rather than molasses. The Single Cane series isolates one cane variety per release, here a purple cane, to show how the raw material shapes the spirit before oak gets involved.

The nose opens fresh and floral with tropical fruit and the green snap of cut cane. The palate carries more sweetness than a typical dry blanc, with honeyed sugar-cane and a warming alcoholic lift, before a finish that turns surprisingly dark, drifting into citrus, wood, cocoa and dark chocolate. Madeira contact lends a faint vinous edge. At 45% it sits between a brisk blanc and something rounder, an approachable introduction to island agricole for drinkers who find the driest Martinique whites too austere.