Rivière du Mât XO

Riviere du Mat is a Reunion producer working largely in a molasses based, column still style, and this XO is a fifteen year old aged rum from that tradition. Though Reunion is associated with agricole, this is a molasses rum, soft and sweet leaning rather than grassy, bottled at a gentle 42%.

The profile is light and easy, the nose showing caramel, honey and fruit, the palate sweet with sugar and dried fruit, the finish rounded and woody with candied fruit. It is a smooth, approachable rum that leans on sweetness and gentle oak rather than depth, the fifteen years not translating into the intensity the age might suggest. Pleasant and undemanding, it sits more naturally in a long drink or a relaxed everyday pour than as a contemplative neat sipper, suited to those who like their rum light and sweet.