Savanna Traditionnel – Série kraft 2008

This Savanna Traditionnel from the Série Kraft is a 2008 single cask, a molasses-based Réunion rum rather than an agricole, finished in Calvados casks and bottled at a vigorous 53.4%. Savanna's Traditionnel line sits alongside its agricole and Grand Arôme families, and the apple-brandy cask gives this one a distinctive twist.

Matured to ten years and bottled unsweetened, it balances dry fruit and wood. The nose is woody and fruity with apple and vanilla, the Calvados influence clear, while the palate turns fruity, sweet and spicy with a vanilla thread. The finish is medium-long, woody and syrupy with a faint saltiness, and a touch of licorice and lime adds lift. Some Grand Arôme-like esters peek through. Characterful and fruit-forward, it makes a rewarding neat sipper for anyone drawn to dry molasses rum dressed in an unusual cask.