Reserve Familiale 6 Year
Distilled on the small island of Marie-Gallent, the estate's sugar cane fields, distillery and warehouses sit on a pristine 1300 acre estate. The estate has distilled rum since the early 1900s and still uses only locally grown sugarcane varieties native to the island. Rhum agricole is produced from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice rather than molasses and is highly regulated for quality by the French government. The distillery, Distillerie Poisson, is the oldest on the island of Marie-Galante and has one of of the oldest stills in the Caribbean. Built in 1916, not much has changed here in the last 100 years, but in 2007 Guadeloupe native Jean-Cedric Brot purchased the distillery committed to reinvigorating the storied brands that made it famous. Four kinds of cane are used: red, white, blue, and gray. Some is grown on the estate, some is purchased from local growers. All cane is hand cut and brought to the distillery by ox-drawn carts. 72 hour fermentation yields a vin de canne at 5% abv. Distillation takes place in one of two copper creole column stills which have 11 stripping plates and 4 rectifying/enriching plates. The spirit comes off the still between 69% and 71% abv. Rhum blanc is placed in open top wooden foudres for 10-15 days and demineralized water is added to bring it down to proof. The unbelievably delicious Reserve Familiale is aged a minimum of 6 years in 200L ex-bourbon american oak casks.
The Producer
Located a 1-hour boat ride from the mainland of Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante is just under 66 square miles of mainly limestone plateaus and rich volcanic soil. About 20% of the island’s area is devoted to growing sugarcane. Rhum Père Labat is made at Distillerie Poisson which was established in the 1860s and began producing rhum agricole in 1916. The distillery, aging facilities, and the estate's sugarcane fields sit on 1300+ acres. Père Labat utilizes estate and locally grown sugarcane varieties native to the island. As rhum agricole, these spirits are produced only from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice rather than molasses. The four types of indigenous cane varietals are only harvested by hand with manchette in full length pieces and delivered via animals to the distillery, which is the oldest on the island and houses one of the oldest stills in the Caribbean. These rhums retain the raw fruitiness of the cane as they are not filtered, or chill filtered to remove congeners. The 8 year loses 40% of the liquid to angel share while being fully aged on the island. For photos and additional info visit the PM Spirits website.
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