Clement 6-Year

The island of Martinique will always hold a special place in my heart, having been there a few times. As your cruise ship approaches Fort De France with your jam box recording island music, the radio stations scream the hint, "We are French! We are very different from the other Caribbean islands!". Indeed they are! As one walks through the downtown area with the shops, all have the same radio station on and the music is all in sync with one another.

And their rhums are also very different from the rest of the Caribbean. I have personally never yet found one that I like until now. There were memories of getting sloshed on Ti Punch made with rhum agricole blanc while trying to keep our balance on a party boat. Definitely not for sipping! Then there are the really awful ones like St. James and Negrita. Through this website, I found out that Clement has the best, but most were way out of my price range.

I made the trek to my favorite well stocked budget liquor store this morning in hopes of buying a bottle of their VSOP. They were out of it, but had this 6 year old. To my pleasant surprised, it was priced right at my $50 per bottle limit. I had not even read the reviews for this one, so I assumed that it is better than the VSOP and bought it.

It has quite a kick at 44% ABV and does not sit well on the tongue being served neat. I added two ice cubes and let it sit for a few minutes. Ah, no more burn and the flavors come out. This is the only way to drink this rhum! The distiller probably increased the ABV knowing that most will want to serve this on the rocks in their hot tropical climate. Some have compared this to a bourbon and I strongly disagree. I would compare it to Lowlands Single Malt Scotches like Glenkinchie and Auchentoshan, but with a very subtle sweetness added to it's grassy and herbal flavors. There appears to be no added sugar, so all of the purists may really like this one. However, when I broke the seal, I was shocked to find a simple plastic screw on cap instead of a real cork. So, yes I would say that this rhum is over priced. Being different does not come cheap.

After note: Since the music of the FWI's is what brought me down there to visit several times and most of you have probably never heard of these legendary musical artists, I will suggest some of the most popular ones to accompany your Martinquan rhum drinking: Kassav, Djo Dezormo, and DeDe St. Prix. I have personally met members of all three groups and besides being wonderful human beings, all are downright perfectionists when it comes to their music.