SHINING A LIGHT ON SUGARCANE

Sugarcane juice rums (or rhums) represent a unique proposition in that they directly reflect an agricultural crop. By contrast, molasses comes from sugarcane grown for sugar production, so has been subjected to a great deal of transformation along the way. Molasses is a wonderful thing to make rum from; still naturally sweet and filled with all manner of good things, it will remain the default globally, but the use of freshly pressed juice can offer a lot more.

While it is commonplace to see the word ‘agricole’ used as a coverall for all sugarcane juice rums, it is a protected term under EU regulations. It applies specifically to rums/ rhums from the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, French Guyana, Reunion and Madeira, and its convenience has seen it widely adopted – even if this is an erroneous situation.

If you wanted an apple, a supermarket could present you with a dozen or more options. Sugarcane is much the same – there are commonalities, but with plenty of scope for variation in flavour, and ability to thrive in different environments. Invariably distillers of sugarcane juice rums will want to capture the flavours associated with that crop and use methods with a lot less rectification. So, these can be big, flavoursome, vibrant, grassy and fruity and quite different from their more highly rectified molasses-based cousins. They may not be the easiest to understand if you are just getting into rum, but boy oh boy, once you go down the rabbit hole it becomes one heck of a journey.

There are strong arguments for sugarcane juice rums to be able to offer a sense of terroir, and some producers release enthusiast-friendly bottlings of specific ‘parcellaires’ or fields of single cane varietals. Comparing such releases allows the drinker the opportunity to understand the effects of the growing environment, seasonal variation, and the varietal itself.