Savanna The Very Rare Casks Grand Arôme 2001

This is a tropically aged Savanna Grand Arome from Reunion, distilled in 2001 and bottled at seventeen years. Grand Arome is Savanna's high ester, long fermentation molasses rum, a very different beast from the distillery's agricole, and nearly two decades of ageing at origin have concentrated it into something dense and elixir like, bottled at cask strength 51% from a single cask.

The long fermentation generates a wide ester spectrum, and tropical maturation in ex bourbon oak has deepened it further: overripe tropical fruit and passion fruit, black tea and green olives, eucalyptus and seasoned cedar wood, with a roasted edge and a varnish tinged funk that announces its Grand Arome identity. The finish runs dry, woody and long. This is an intense, concentrated rum for experienced palates ready for something serious, a contemplative neat pour that shows the depth high ester molasses rum can reach with age.