Rhum JM Millesime 2002

I promised in my Neisson Vieux review that I’d further discuss Martinique Agricole rhum, especially its AOC. But first, I’m going to go into how agricole came to be.

The agricole that turned me onto this sugarcane juice baser style of rhum is, fittingly for this review, Rhum JM’s VSOP. I asked a friend to grab me a bottle from Hong Kong Duty Free because someone recommended it to me. For something that cost around $50 USD, I thought it was a great balance of oak influence and grassy funk. This ultimately also made my friend a rum convert. So, I immediately thought the French must really be a great civilization for creating this delicious style of rhum. That high opinion got distilled down a few notches upon learning a couple of things.

Firstly, the French only started making agricole in Martinique during the early 1800s. Before this, the French Caribbean also made molasses-based rhum like everyone else in the Caribbean. Napoleon was at war with England at this time. The English Navy blockaded France’s routes to the French Caribbean. This was France’s main source of sugar. With their main source of sugar cut off, Napoleon encouraged a focus on sugar from sugar beets. A lot less demand for sugarcane made a lot of plantations suffer. Someone must have thought that instead of going through a more laborious process of separating sugar from molasses, the plantations just fermented the sugarcane juice then distilled it. Hence the term agricole because it’s an agricultural product. This also differentiates agricole from molasses-based rhum which is referred to as traditionnel in Martinique.

Secondly, Brazil was already making Cachaca since the 1550s. So, this means the French aren’t the first to make sugarcane juice-based spirits. There goes my initial misconception that they created this style of sugarcane spirit.

To my knowledge, there were still a fair amount of molasses-based rum distilleries in Martinique even after the switch to agricole. According to Martin Cate’s Smuggler’s Cove book, there were plenty of larger molasses-based distilleries near Mt. Pelée. The eruption of the volcano in early 1902 greatly reduced the molasses-based rum producers in Martinique.

It’s also safe to assume that demand for agricole rhum grew in France after World War 1 and 2. I’m more familiar with the events of WW2, so I know the Nazis sacked Normandy. I’m told this made Calvados, which is from Normandy, grow in demand in Germany. With parts of France in ruins, home-grown spirits production would be an issue. This made the French islands of Martinique, Guadalupe and Marie-Galante ramp up production to fill the demand.

Now to talk about Martinique’s Agricole AOC. In order to be called Rhum Agricole, it must meet the following conditions:

1. The cane and production area must come from and be within the 23 areas designated on Martinique. There is a list of allowed cane varieties that can be used which is approved by a national committee.
2. Harvesting of cane must be between January 1st and the 31st of August.
3. Spreading substances on cane fields to promote growth is prohibited.
4. Only fresh juice from good quality cane can be used.
5. The minimum brix (sugar level) is 14, and minimum pH is 4.7. The minimum values can be adjusted by a committee based on weather data, as needed. (The methods of measuring brix and pH of the juice of each batch of cane are approved by the national committee of wines and eaux-de-vie).
6. The processes allowed for extracting cane juice are approved by a committee.
7. Fermentation must be discontinuous in an open tank no greater than 500 hectoliters. (50,000 liters, or 13,200 gallons.) Fermentation cannot exceed 72 hours,
8. The yeast must be of the genus Saccharomyces.
Addition of the yeast must be by:
● Mother Tank
● Cutting
● Leftover yeast at the base of a prior batch
● Centrifuged yeasts
9. Distillation must be in columns. (I’m told these are refurbished Armagnac stills)
A. Heating is steam-injection to the column.
B. The column width must be between 0.7 and 2 meters.
C. Rectification: This part of the still must have between 5 to 9 copper trays.
10. If a distillery makes both AOC and non-AOC products, the operations must be carried out to guarantee absolute separation of the products, so that non-AOC compliant rhum is not mixed with AOC rhum.
11. No coloring can be added to blanc rhum. It must also be rested (usually in stainless steel tanks) for at least three months after distillation. If rested in oak, the resting cannot exceed three months.
12. Minimum abv for an AOC Martinique rhum is 40%.
13. Vieux rhum has to spend a minimum of three years (uninterrupted) in oak containers of less than 650 liters.
14. Rhums sold with the AOC designation must say Appellation d’origine controlee very clearly.
15. The term Agricole rhum should be used when referring to the rhum and must appear alongside Martinique.
16. The words blanc or vieux must also appear clearly near the AOC designation.

These are only the main points of the AOC, for me at least. If you want to read the complete thing, look here.

Rhum JM Millesime 2002 – review

Barreled: Oct 2002. Bottled: Nov 10 2012 (ex-bourbon cask), ABV: 46.3%.

On the nose: There’s a sharp menthol note that quickly mellows out. It’s followed by bits of red grapes, grass jelly, almonds and cherry syrup. After that are bits of leather, old wood and a mix of herbs (mainly dill and thyme). There’s also a thin but long scent of cinnamon and vanilla.

In the mouth: Red grape, grass jelly and cherry syrup at the front. These tastes extend further and give way to flashes of orgeat, nutmeg, vanilla, menthol, tannins, rye, cucumber and cloves. The red grapes and grass jelly extend further to the end.

Conclusions

Quite a unique and relentless agricole. This is the only sugarcane juice-based rum where I’ve sensed flavors of grass jelly and menthol. I also got these flavors in the JM VSOP, but they don’t last as long and aren’t as complex. This shows that it’s hard to generalize the flavors of aged cane juice rum.

I expected more from a special release. I like how main flavors persist all the way, but this lacks complexity. This is something I can enjoy when I just want to drink something good and lasting. JM makes yearly releases called Millesime which means vintage. I haven’t had other Millesimes to be able to compare. The main bummer for this rum is the price. I found this in Japan for around $90 USD a few years ago. I have to wonder if the price changed throughout its time in the market and as rum prices increased.

Score: 7/10