Savanna Rhum traditionnel (The Original Distillery Blend)

This traditional blend is the molasses rum from Savanna in Reunion, the distillery's everyday house style rather than its agricole or high-ester lines. Savanna makes cane-juice, traditional molasses and Grand Arome rum side by side, and this five year old sits in the gentle, accessible middle, a soft, rounded sipper aged in ex-bourbon oak and bottled at 43%.

Column distillation from molasses keeps the base light, and five years in oak brings soft vanilla, young wood and caramel with a citrus lift and a faint herbal, minty edge that hints at the distillery's livelier releases. It drinks easy and uncomplicated at 43%, light enough for a daily pour yet with a little character to keep it interesting. The added-sugar status is not stated, though the shape is more about gentle oak than dosage. A safe first Savanna and a dependable mixer.