Tasting

White rum from Mauritius smells of freshly cut sugarcane, grass, and green fruit, finishing dry and slightly peppery. First-time tasters do well to nose the glass for a while before sipping, since the aroma reveals more than the first mouthful. In aged juice rums, wood, spice, and dried fruit join in, yet the green cane note remains underneath as a thread.

Two houses offer a good point of comparison. The Rhumerie de Chamarel bottles white and aged juice rums, including a VSOP and single casks; the white ones come partly from the pot still and partly from the column, and comparing them shows just how much the equipment shapes the flavor. Saint Aubin offers white and aged rum alongside a vanilla infusion.

A nosing glass or a small tulip-shaped glass collects the aromas at the top. A tumbler lets them escape too quickly. The glass should rest on the table, and should barely be swirled, since alcohol vapor otherwise masks the finer notes.

Room temperature, around 18 to 20 degrees Celsius (64–68°F), is a good starting point, since the aromas close up when it's cooler. A rum at 40 percent can be tasted neat. A bottling at 55 percent, as found in some cask releases, becomes softer with a few drops of water, and only then do wood and fruit open up.

The vanilla infusion calls for different standards. Here, it's not the rum itself being judged, but whether vanilla, sweetness, and alcohol are in balance. It is sweet and fragrant, and even a small amount in a small glass is enough to assess it.