Ron Aldea Blanco

Ron Aldea is a long established Canary Islands distillery on La Palma, and this Blanco is its young, unaged white, distilled on a column still from molasses and bottled without added sugar at 37.5%. It belongs to the gentler Atlantic island school of rum, mild and approachable, and earns interest as an unsweetened white from an origin that sits just off the usual rum routes.

The nose carries sugarcane, almond and a vegetal, slightly thin quality, while the palate turns unexpectedly toward pastry, figs and a soft sweetness before a vegetal, faintly bitter finish. Tasters note a resemblance to cachaça, helped by the low strength and easy, relaxed delivery. At 37.5% it is light and very drinkable, the dilution showing, and a touch more strength would arguably give it more to say, but as an honest, additive free island white it has a quiet charm.