TBRC O Reizinho O Reizinho

A single cask from O Reizinho on Madeira, bottled by That Boutique-y Rum Company, the honest, no-additive UK independent curated by Peter Holland. Madeira is one of the few regions permitted to use the agricole name, and this is fresh-pressed cane-juice rum, just nine months old, matured in a Madeira cask and bottled at cask strength of 57%.

This is youth captured almost in the raw. The nose is very immature and could pass for a white rum, vegetal with olive, grass and a leafy tea note. The palate is better integrated, with sugar cane, herbal and vegetal notes joined by banana and a touch of fermented fruit, and the Madeira cask leaves a light sweetness and a vanilla-touched, grassy finish. The white base is nicely tamed for something this young, floral and fresh with spring-garden character. Added sugar is not declared; the gentle sweetness is cask-derived. A lively, unusual young cane-juice rum for the curious.