Rhum Old Fashioned

Rhum JM VSOP Old Fashioned from Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29

Just because the weather is heating up, it doesn't mean you have to forgo your Old Fashioned.  Spirit forward drinks sipped leisurely over big cool ice is actually just the thing for fighting off the blazing summer sun.  Especially if you use that elixer made from sugar cane in the tropics; rum.

And for those of you put off by the molasses heavy sweetness of traditional dark rums, I have the solution. Rhum Agricole.   Agricole is French, but from the Latin, agricola, meaning, ager (“field”) +‎ -cola (“-tiller”, “-cultivator”).  Indeed this Rhums are made with cane fresh from the fields, unlike the h-less rums made from molasses, a byproduct of sugar production.  The result is a dry, grassy and green spirit bursting with terroir and flavor.  When aged, in their tradition French casks, the result can be as fine as cognac with a Caribbean twist.

Rhums from Martinique are labeled "AOC Martinique Rhum Agricole" because French and European law allowed a designation called "Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée" (protected designation of origin) for rums produced on the island of Martinique.  That means both the quality of the production and the workers on that Island get the protection of putting out a quality product with quality wages. This is a feel good drinking rhum inside and out! 

So order an aged rhum agricole Old Fashioned from your next cocktail bar and keep the Don Draper in Martinique vibes all summer long!