Rivers Royal Granadian White 69

What immediately captures my attention is the weight and persistence of this rum; quite heavy for an agricole. The high abv makes it a real monster.

The typical heady vesouté character (which I really love) is cranked up to 11, and there is a resinous herbal juniper-like character left in the glass after evaporation. It is complex, powerful, and very fascinating.

There are many excellent reviews out there that flesh out the nuances and nature of this rum, I highly recommend The Lone Caner's take.

Similar to Jamaican rum production, it is extremely inefficient and expensive to produce. There is nothing quite like it that I have tasted - a "one of a kind" rum, absolutely worth tasting for any true connoisseur .

Here is a lovely unaged 🇬🇩 rum from the River Antoine Estate Distillery. This was bottled at 69% ABV (a.k.a. the legal maximum that can go on a plane - otherwise the local version of Rivers comes in somewhere near a crazy 80%!).

On the nose there is grilled plantain, cane juice, ginger, pepper, lime, pineapple, and it's slightly grassy. With some H2O, there is more floral notes and additional tropical fruit.

The palate is cream, cayenne pepper, cane juice, lime juice and ginger. Water leads to an improvement on the palate as well.

I find the finish short to medium in length, and is mint, lime, pepper and ends dry.

This definitely has some similarities to Clairin Sajous I find, and is a really solid unaged rum. When drinking it on its own, I'd certainly recommend a bit of water to bring out some additional fruitiness and for a less palate-numbing experience.

Delivers an impressive amount of flavor and I love the proof point. This has a bit of a smoke taste for me in the finish that I’m not crazy about, but it’s definitely one of the bucket list cane juice pot still rums out there.

Huge meaty and umami flavors wrapping the core cane juice note. I detect aged fish sauce and semi-dried grass. On the palate, almost like a tomato quality to the umami, and more cane juice and post-harvest air. Delicious and unique.

Nose: Absolutely pungent but without an overpowering hit of ethanol. It primarily comprises of fresh sugar cane but is nuanced by artificial sweet corn powder, flower tisane, damp leaves and soil, and canned pineapple tidbits. The sweetness threads into the territory of cheese pimiento, kielbasa sausages, and the dank aromas you get from leaving wet clothes in a closed space for too long. Mouthwatering hints of garlic powder and thyme. Digging a little more after some time reveals more fruit and crisp aromas: sliced pears sautéing in light olive oil, dry white wine, and boxed apple juice.

Palate: I like how it took me a couple of sips to acclimatize before I could zero on what's going on. It has a beefy and oily mouthfeel, with the arrival consisting of juniper, pickled pineapples, and lemon-flavored hard candy. It doubles down on the olives. Then comes sugar cane juice, leftover pesto sauce, and the fresh and briny yet dirty taste of sea urchin sashimi. If Willy Wonka's 3-Course Dinner Gum were real, I'd imagine it to have this kind of development. Throughout the development, the texture remains oily. Exhaling leads to marker pens and almost a chewing gum note.

Finish: Unsurprisingly long. Even the oiliness remains in the throat. Pei pa koa candy (a candy used as Chinese medicine), singed wood, brown sugar, and orange peels.

This is an ok Agricole, but it has bit too much funk for me. Smells and tastes of sugar cane, brine, grass, spice (pepper and maybe ginger), and olives. The high abv enhances the flavors, but it’s I bit too funky for me.

Now this is a yummy Agricole. Not over priced. Great funk to it without taking away anything from the earthy flavors.

Wanted to try this for a while, and was lucky to be given a sample. Really smooth considering the strength. Easy drinking neat. Mineral tones and mild pot still funky tones.
I imagine it would be wasted in a cocktail. Not enough of a flavour punch. It would make a satisfying now and again sipper, and at half the price, I'd be in there.

I have only started my path through funky high-ester rums but non that I’ve tried where quiet as unique and intense as this one. So many aromas going on and a lot of surprising fruit notes, almost bubble gum.
Definitely worth a try to understand how far rum can go.

This is the rum that almost killed Scott Brewer - served in a 50s juice glass, and why not? This 140 proof wonder was a treat. Strong enough that after sharing a pull with three friends there was plenty left for me ❤️