Maison La Mauny Spiced

Maison La Mauny is a heritage Martinique distillery dating to 1749, but this is its spiced expression rather than a straight agricole, and it should be taken on those terms. The base is cane juice rum run on a column still, but the bottle is flavoured and sweetened into a dessert style spirit, soft and easy at 40% and a long way from the dry, grassy snap the island is known for.

Expect big aromatic spicing: orange, cinnamon and clove give it a distinct Christmas market character, while the palate brings peppery ginger, brown sugar and caramel. It is unambiguously sweet, more confectionery than cane, and it shows best as a cocktail base or an easy sipper for those who enjoy dessert leaning spiced rums. Anyone hoping for a dry, complex agricole should look to La Mauny's vieux instead, but as a sweet mixer it does exactly what it sets out to do.