Renegade Études New Bacolet (Upper Combe) 2021

Renegade's Etudes series tracks the early development of its single farm Grenada rums, and this New Bacolet bottling from the Upper Combe plot is made from fresh pressed sugar cane juice, agricole in spirit if not in name since Grenada sits outside the French appellation. Distilled on a pot still and aged for under two years, it captures cane juice rum at a youthful, energetic stage at 55%.

The light touch of ex-bourbon oak adds a frame without smothering the raw material, so the rum stays grassy and vegetal with fresh sugarcane, green apple and a ripe mango sweetness over peppery spice with a barrel edge. Pot distillation gives it body and a little weight, but this is young and still finding polish, full of character yet snappy and rough around the edges. It suits drinkers who enjoy punchy young cane juice rum and want to taste what a short spell of oak adds to a single farm distillate.