Karukera
The history of Karukera rum is linked to that of Longueteau rums. When, in 2005, François Longueteau took over the Marquisat de Sainte Marie agricultural estate and its "Esperance" distillery, Grégoire Hayot (who had previously worked at Damoiseau), joined forces with him to create an entity designed to enhance the distillery's rum through ageing. Karukera was the first name given to Guadeloupe by the Caribbean Indians before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
The Marquisat de Sainte Marie is an independent estate growing blue and red cane. A rarity in the West Indies rum industry, François Longueteau owns his own agricultural machinery, enabling him to harvest his plots at the optimum time, when he feels the canes are fully ripe.
Fermentation of the vesou is artisanal (no acidification of the juice, no temperature control, as spontaneous as possible) and lasts 48 hours. The rum is distilled on a 28-tray Savalle column, from which it flows at 70-80%. This rum is delivered raw from the column to Karukera, where it is rested and brewed. This mode of operation is similar to that of the Simon distillery in Martinique, which supplies the HSE and Clément brands.
Aging takes place mainly in ex-cognac casks, with rum reduced to between 52% and 62%.
The first aging operations took place in 2006, and a proper winery was built in 2007. It includes an ageing area, a white rum refining workshop, a bottling workshop and a boutique shared with Longueteau rums.
In anticipation of the first old agricultural rums, Karukera has offered a white rhum canne bleue, as well as blends of pure juice rums and molasses rums from the Montebello distillery. The fledgling brand has even matured old La Favorite agricultural rums from Martinique, vintages which it has reworked in Sauternes and Cognac casks. Building on this ageing experience, and just before releasing its first "house" aged rums in 2011, it created the famous Cuvée Christophe Colomb from Martinique rums.
Today, Karukera offers top-quality aged rums, such as this 2008 vintage, a rum vieux agricole that has been the talk of the town. But it also stands out with a demonstration of savoir-faire in the field of white rums, thanks to the special editions " L'intense ". Read less
