Père Labat Réserve Familiale is an agricultural rum produced at the Poisson distillery on the island of Marie-Galante. The cane is cut by hand and transported to the distillery in ox-drawn carts. They are crushed within 48 hours, and the vesou ferments for 48 to 72 hours. Distillation then takes place in a red copper Creole column.
This is a wood-aged rum, as it is a blend of 50% Père Labat L'Or rum (a 3-year-old aged in oak casks), and 50% 5-year-old rum aged in oak casks.
Nico's tasting notes
The nose of this rhum agricole is faithful to its terroir, to its rustic yet mature cane, whose sweet bagasse expresses gently peppery notes. Here's a nose that's as green as it is candied, as herbaceous as it is gourmand, successfully reconciling the freshness of cane juice with the patina of ageing.
With aeration, the rum unwraps a tart little candy, adorned with cane bark and oak. The sweet cane juice swells and resurfaces in fruity, candied, pastry-like aromas, with a deeper touch of fermentation to spice things up.
On the palate, we find our authentic cane juice peppery, without spiciness, but with a spicy sensation that fizzes on the palate. The suave cane juice spreads like a balm to quickly soothe all this, with soft herbaceous flavors of velvety aromatics. The pastry side comes next, with vanilla coating the taste buds.
On the finish, the patinated cane changes to unrefined brown sugar, which still carries beautiful drops of molasses, as well as a touch of fermented vesuvius.
"A smooth, flavorful agricultural rum that retains its cane aromas while giving them a lovely patina..."
On video
On our Youtube channel, watch our interview with Jean-Cédric Brot, manager of the Poisson distillery on Marie-Galante. He tasted Père Labat Réserve Familiale with us as part of the box of the month.
Stéphane Ti'verre
On the nose 👃🏻: it's very fresh and very sweet, like cooked sugar, with a super-interesting, slightly acidic fruitiness. We're on raisins in particular, peaches and pears, but also candied citrus. Our fresh cane is also enhanced by pretty notes of spices, aniseed and vanilla. It reveals a lovely touch of nougat with aeration, which is delicious. It really has a sunny side, I think.
On the palate 👅: resolutely fresh and very fruity. Among other things, we find the fruit we had on the nose, the nougat side and the spices, vanilla, cinnamon, anise, a little peppery. It's really unctuous, sweet, well-flavored and perfectly balanced for my taste. There's a nice nutty note on the finish.
The finish is moderately long on fruit, apricot more specifically with a slight bitterness. The woodiness remains discreet to diffuse only its spicy side, it's quite pleasant and fresh once again 👌
Verdict ⚡️: wow, what a great discovery once again of a high-quality rum from Marie-Galante 😍 On tasting, we're really more on a premium wood-aged profile than an vieux. It's light and very fine, the kind of profile I prefer!