Grays Arcane Extraroma Grand Amber

Arcane Extraroma comes from Grays in Mauritius and is distilled from sugar-cane juice on a column still, though the island's producers cannot legally call their rum agricole. Whatever the base, this is not chasing the dry, grassy cane style, it is an openly sweet, fruit forward pour built for easy, indulgent drinking.

The nose and palate run heavy on ripe banana, coconut and vanilla, with mango and a floral lift on the finish, and the rum is sweetened, so it reads closer to a candied treat or liqueur than a classic dry rum. At 40% it is soft and uncomplicated, the sugar and big fruit doing the talking rather than the cask. Treated for what it is, it makes a fun, dessert-like sipper over ice or a sweet base for tropical cocktails, and it is honest fun rather than a serious sipper.