Labourdonnais Original Rum

Labourdonnais makes agricole-style rum in Mauritius from fresh sugar-cane juice, though it sits outside the Martinique AOC and so carries the island's own name rather than the protected term. This Original is an unaged white distilled on a column still and bottled at 50%, which is the maximum strength permitted on the island.

The profile is raw and lively. The nose is fruity and fresh, sugarcane, pear and a fermented, faintly medicinal edge; the palate brings grassy cane, sugar and a hot, acidic bite; the finish turns bitter with pear, brown sugar and a schnapps-like fruitiness. Tasters consistently flag the sourness and rough edges, placing it more as a mixer than a neat sipper, where its punchy fresh-cane character can lift a mojito or a special daiquiri. Drinkers who like assertive, acidic white agricole will find it interesting; those after soft, neutral whites will find it too sharp.