Saint James Très Vieux Rhum Agricole 2004

Saint James has distilled on Martinique since 1765, and this Tres Vieux from the 2004 vintage is a long aged AOC agricole, eighteen years in ex bourbon oak and bottled unsweetened at 43%. Tropical maturation moves quickly in Caribbean heat, so this carries the concentration of serious age while staying firmly within the dry, spice forward French island idiom.

The wood leads, as you would expect from nearly two decades in barrel: toasted and roasted oak, baking spice and clove frame dried fruit, plum and a trace of cherry, with firm tannin giving structure. The palate is fruity and spicy over a woody base, and the finish runs long, warm and dry with a roasted, chocolate edge. For all the oak it never buries the spirit, the typical concentrated Saint James wood sitting in balance with the surviving cane and orchard fruit.