Tres Hombres Ron Aldea Ed. 011 La Palma Ron Joven

This La Palma ron joven comes from Ron Aldea in the Canary Islands, where sugar cane is still pressed for juice, and reaches the bottle through Tres Hombres, the engageless sail-cargo venture that ships its rum by tall ship. It is an agricole-style cane-juice spirit rather than a molasses rum, made on a pot still and kept young and lively.

The profile is fresh and herbal at heart: citrus and mint on the nose with a clove lift, a grassy, floral and lightly spicy palate, and a warm finish carrying wood and tropical fruit. At 40.4% it is on the gentle side for a cane-juice rum, which leaves it more aromatic than assertive. The novelty of Atlantic-island cane and a wind-powered crossing is as much the draw here as the glass itself, best approached as an easy, curious sipper.