A rather fascinating rum from Mauritius based distillery New Grove.
New Grove was founded in 1838, and continues to use family recipes from the era, alongside local produce – their distillery is found surrounded by lush green fields of sugar cane, from which their rum is distilled.
What is so interesting about this 8 year old bottling is that it is finished in Acacia wood casks for a year, after 7 years in oak barrels. Acacia trees are native to Australia and Africa, is not allowed to be used in Scotch whisky production, and is rarely seen in other spirits. It is said to highlight floral and fruity flavours, whilst not overwhelming the spirit with vanilla as oak can occasionally.
This rum offers notes of ripe, sweet bananas, figs, caramel, beeswax, smoked oak, almonds, grass, citrus, slight brown sugar, dried fruit, bright cane, slight vanilla, flowers, cloves and cinnamon.
For an 8 year old rum, this is a surprisingly delicate offering, with a crisp dryness. Bottled at 47% ABV and without chill filtration or colouration, this is rich and full-bodied dram.
A superb experiment from New Grove.