Trois Rivières Millésime 1997

Trois Rivieres traces its estate back to 1660 and remains one of Martinique's storied agricole names, its rum now distilled at the La Mauny site. This 1997 millesime is a vintage AOC bottling, distilled from fresh sugar-cane juice and aged eleven years, comfortably into vieux territory under the island's protected tiers.

Maturation in ex-bourbon oak, at a tropical pace, gives it a markedly woody, spice-forward character: oak, baking spice and a waxy, leathery depth, with cocoa and dark cherry adding fruit. Unsweetened and bottled at 42%, the lower proof keeps it elegant rather than aggressive, the grassy cane core now softened and folded into the oak. The finish runs a touch short, but the experience is a fine example of well-aged AOC rhum, lightly smoky and built for stirred drinks or quiet contemplation.