Tasting

What does rum from Madeira taste like? The natural style smells of ripe fruit, melon, mango, and peach, and feels light with a touch of sweetness. A mineral note lingers at the finish. Aged rums add honey, caramel, and spice, feeling fuller without becoming heavy.

The major houses make for an excellent comparison. Engenhos do Norte from Porto da Cruz bottles labels like 970 and 980. William Hinton comes from Engenho Novo, alongside the rum from O Reizinho. Engenho da Calheta is also a working distillery that welcomes visitors.

A tulip-shaped nosing glass concentrates the aromas better than a wide tumbler. Room temperature is the rule, since chilled rum keeps its aromas locked away. When tasting, hold your nose above the glass first, then move in closer so the alcohol doesn't overwhelm everything else.

With a young natural, it's worth smelling and tasting it neat first. A drop of still water can open the rum up, though at 40 percent it changes little; at higher bottling strength, the effect is more noticeable. Don't dilute it past the point where flavor disappears.

On Madeira, color says as little about age as it does anywhere else. Whether a rum spent at least three years in wood only appears on the label if it's called envelhecido. Tasting several in a row, start with the pale natural and finish with the aged style. Water between pours keeps the palate fresh.