Famille Ricci OVNI 9

Famille Ricci OVNI 9 is a cask strength island blend assembled by the French selector Famille Ricci, drawing together aged rum from Belize, Fiji and Guadeloupe's Montebello, all sitting around nineteen years old. Built from both pot and column distillate, matured in ex-bourbon oak and bottled unsweetened at 59.7%, it is a serious full-proof blend for drinkers who enjoy tracing the origins within a marriage.

The component characters take turns. Belize brings a fuller, honeyed sweetness, Fiji adds its bright citrus, and the whole is wrapped in coconut, mango and oak across nose and palate, with marmalade rounding the middle. The finish turns peppery and astringent with a cooling menthol edge and a return of coconut. There is a clear alcohol sharpness at this strength, so a little water rewards it, opening the tropical fruit and softening the wood. It is a dry, expressive blend that lets three distinct origins speak in the same glass.