Depaz Rhum VSOP - 70cl

If you only know rum made from molasses, Depaz VSOP will reset your expectations. This is rhum agricole — distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice rather than molasses — made on the Depaz estate at the foot of Mont Pelée in Martinique. It's a French-Caribbean tradition with its own protected AOC, and it tastes like nothing else.

The estate has roots going back to 1651, and its modern story is remarkable: the 1902 eruption of Mont Pelée destroyed the distillery and the town of Saint-Pierre, and Victor Depaz rebuilt it from the ashes. The volcanic soil the cane grows in gives the rhum a mineral snap you can genuinely taste. Under AOC rules there are no additives — just cane, cask and time, roughly seven years of it in oak. It's bottled at 45%.

The nose is layered with dried apricot and plum, warm cinnamon and nutmeg, vanilla and a lift of fresh sugarcane. The palate follows with oak spice, tobacco, a touch of liquorice and dark chocolate, closing on a clean, peppery finish. It's powerful but poised — elegance over weight.

This is a sipping rhum for people who like Cognac and aged whisky, and a brilliant education in what agricole can do. Try it neat before you ever reach for a mixer.

How to Serve

Neat in a tulip or small wine glass, at room temperature, to catch the aromatics. It also makes a serious Ti' Punch — just rhum, a little cane syrup and a twist of lime, no ice.

Where to Drink It

Artesian at The Langham for something inventive. The Connaught Bar for a refined neat pour. Swift in Soho if you fancy a proper Ti' Punch.

Food Pairings

Wonderful after dinner with dark chocolate or a wedge of aged Comté. The tobacco and spice notes also make it a fine companion to a good cigar.