Rhum Chantal Comte Engenhos do Norte L‘Arbre Du Voyageur Rhum Vieux (Île de)

Chantal Comte selected this Engenhos do Norte for the L'Arbre Du Voyageur line. Madeira is one of the few places outside the French islands legally entitled to the term rhum agricole, and Engenhos do Norte distils from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice on a column still. This vieux has been matured in Madeira casks, a fitting marriage of the island's fortified-wine heritage with its cane spirit.

Bottled at a robust 63% with sweetening undisclosed, it noses woody, earthy and grassy with a spice lift, then drinks intense and spicy with pronounced wood and tannin, finishing on spice, oak and a touch of caramel. The Madeira influence and the tannic grip make this a firm, wood-driven pour where the alcohol can sit a little sharp, so a rest in the glass and a few drops of water help it settle. One for drinkers curious about cane-juice rum from beyond the Caribbean, drunk slowly and neat.