Mana'o paille is a certified organic rum made from pure sugarcane juice. The cane is hand-cut, pruned and selected before being crushed in a single pass, without the addition of water. This first-press cane juice comes from red cane, an ancestral variety known as "Otaïti".
The juice is then filtered and stored in a fermentation vat with organic yeast for 48 hours. Only the distillers' hearts are kept at the alembic outlet.
The rum spends between 12 and 18 months in French oak barrels to acquire its amber color.
Nico's tasting notes
The nose is already very mature, given the slight aging of this rum. Both the cane and the wood have a gentle patina, and have already learned a great deal about each other. There's also a vegetal freshness, between the slight menthol of Polynesian cane and the tannins.
Aeration tilts the balance in favor of gourmandise. The freshness fades, but the roundness of ripe cane and soft wood forms a honeyed, brioche-like side, full of cane sugar and sweet spices.
On the palate, as on the nose, there's a lovely roundness and ripeness, with the right balance between ripe cane and the brioche character of the wood. There's also a typically agricultural touch, with sweet pepper and lime zest, both melted into a kind of syrup.
The finish is vegetal and round, like velvety herbs.
"This pure cane juice rum is already beautifully mature and delicious..."
Hansy Haberkorn
I didn't like this rum. Not enough aroma and complexity for my taste.
Nose: sugarcane, dried fruit, burnt caramel.
Mouth: ethanol, bitterness, cold tobacco.
Finish: bitterness, no length.
Stéphane Ti'verre
On the nose 👃🏻: a very fresh cane juice reveals itself, with lovely sweet notes of plum and tart applesauce, slightly minty and with a hint of cinnamon. The wood brings its gentle spiciness, but is completely forgotten as such. The fruitiness of this rum is really quite compelling. On aeration, the cane is honeyed and passion fruit comes to mind.
On the palate 👅 it's strikingly round, very tasty and even downright oily. I find all the fruitiness perceived on the nose, plum, tart apple and passion fruit. Then it moves on to light oak, vanilla, a little almond and sweet pepper. The flavors are well marked, but this is a rum that spreads out smoothly on the palate, like a velouté with a lovely sweetness of cane heart.
The finish is short to moderately long on exotic fruits, passion fruit or even pineapple at this stage, with a remnant of pepper. There's also a hint of nuts, with a lingering fatness... It's all freshness, roundness and lightness 👌
Verdict ⚡️: Wow, I was surprised by the quality of its aromatic profile. You can clearly feel the quality of the first-press cane juice, which has only been magnified in the casks, but without going too far in marking the wood. Its fruitiness and roundness are truly impressive. Apart from the finish, which isn't exceptionally long, the rest is faultless! Very nice product 😍