Samai rum is made from molasses, which itself comes from sugar cane grown in the Cambodian province of Koh Kong.
Distillation takes place in a copper still, then the rum rests for over 2 years in French and American oak barrels. Finally, it is transferred to sherry casks.
Nico's tasting notes
The first nose is spicy and rather wild, swarming and spreading out in all directions. Initially vegetal and round, it quickly becomes "funky", as we say in the English tradition. In other words, it explodes with very ripe, full-bodied exotic fruit, with banana, even dried banana, tobacco, pineapple and all the exotic fruits you can imagine. Its style is surprisingly fruity, even if it now settles on calmer fruits in syrup and on a fat white almond. This nose is sublimated by a light core and gentle aromas.
With aeration, the profile evolves towards spices and honey, an amber aroma with a hint of pine resin, medicinal yet sweet and gourmand. A hint of metallic spice, like Port Mourant or Fiji rum, rounds out the profile. This is followed by a fragrant vegetal, like a kind of heather, then some nuts and a chocolaty woodiness.
The palate is full-bodied, with a good ladleful of ripe exotic fruit and a mellow, spicy woodiness. The rum is tasty, funky and mellow, with just the right balance of spice and resin. All that was missing was a little olive, and this one is plump and even suggests a little sugar. Pineapple and copper make a happy couple, and in themselves sum up the original style of this Asian rum.
The finish is dry, with resin and stone, then melts broadly into honey and exotic fruit in the length.
"You don't know what to expect when you talk about a rum from Cambodia, and you're very pleasantly surprised to come across a full-bodied, well-stocked rum..."
