Old Brothers 45.9 – Maison Ferroni – Dans Les Arbres

This Old Brothers release, drawn from Maison Ferroni, gathers cane-juice rum from four distilleries on Santo Antao in Cap Verde, where the local grogue is made from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice, often from red cane. It is agricole in spirit rather than name, a blend bottled at cask strength, 45.9%.

The profile is deliberately light and fresh, with grass, cherry and a floral edge on the nose, then a thin, fresh, grassy and fruity palate, closing floral and delicate with a touch of dried fruit. It drinks a little like a Ti' Punch base, sweet-edged with lemon and a vegetal lift, oily and fruity in the mouth. Some drinkers wish for more weight, but its appeal is in showing a less familiar island's take on cane spirit, fresh and easygoing rather than powerful.