JM Millésime 2011 Brut de fût is a 9-year-old agricultural rum from Martinique. JM's Fonds-Préville distillery produces this AOC rum, which joins the long list of "paper label" vintage rums.
Column distilled in December 2011, it was then placed in American oak casks that had contained bourbon. On March 19, 2021, over 9 years later, it was bottled brut de fût, without dilution or addition of any kind.
Nico's tasting notes
On the nose, fruit and candied cane mingle in powerful, heady harmony, offering us an intensely exotic snapshot. The fresh woodiness testifies to a rum in great shape, dashing and lively, with just-melted tannins and fruity highlights.
Aeration brings out the wood and tannins, which have meanwhile been reinforced by pepper. The rum is all the more striking because it is now waxed with encaustic, like an old exotic wood to which a touch of youth has been added.
On the palate, all this woodiness falls into place to give us a mellow, gourmet attack that's particularly pleasing. A lovely complexity takes hold of the taste buds, with tender oak, stewed fruit and a pleasing chewiness. The cane's fiber is ripe, its vegetal side candied and bursting with sweet spices.
A final pass of wax glazes the whole, so that the pleasure lasts...
"A fine year for JM, who offers us a truly pleasant and tasty delicacy..."
By comparison, the JM 2010 brut de fût 10 ans offered a lighter profile, with more acidic, oxidized fruit, such as apple and pear. The same mellow tannins came to mind, but freshness prevailed. The palate was also simpler and softer, certainly less gourmand than this 2011.
