Rhum Depaz Rhum Hors D’Age Agricole XO. Or we could call it the Grande Reserve XO. Either way this is one of the top rums in the Depaz range. Rhum Depaz hail from the French Island of Martinique. Rhum Depaz produce their agricole rhum in line with the AOC Martinique guidelines. So its “full on” agricole rhum if you like.

Rhum Depaz also make a distinction between their agricole rhum and that of others producers, due to the variety of sugar cane used. They state on their website that they use seasonally (Spring) harvested blue sugar cane. This means that production of all Depaz rhum is limited. All elements of the production, through to the bottling is performed at the Depaz Estate, St Pierre. The estate has been harvesting sugar cane since 1651.

Rhum Depaz Rhum Hors D’Age Agricole XO in a blend of rhums aged between 8 and 10 years. Distilled, as is usually the case with agricole on column stills. I can’t find any information on the casks used for ageing so I will guess at French Oak. If you know different please let me know!

Rhum Depaz have recently re-branded all their rums and put them in the squat stubby bottle you see above. A quality cork enclosure and a cardboard sleeve to store the rhum is provided, in what is a very nice package overall. A bottle in the UK should see you parting with around £75. It is bottled at a very reasonable 45% ABV.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Port Cask Rhum Depaz Rhum Vieux Agricole Hors D’Age so I have high hopes for this bottling.

When poured Rhum Depaz Rhum Hors D’Age Agricole XO is a golden brown colour with tinges of orange and red.

Nosing, reveals sweet aromas of orange, light toffee and caramel. There is a nice slightly peppery note which moves into an almost bourbon like spicy zestiness. Notes of licorice and some cranberry also put in an appearance.

Nose wise this is a very light fruity rhum with very little grassiness. It’s not very “vegetal” on the nose at all.

Sipped you get a slightly “heavier” rhum than you might have expected from the nose. It’s still not at all grassy or vegetal. It actually has quite a dry entry with a lot of spicy charred oak and some slightly burnt toffee notes – cinder toffee perhaps. The fruitiness takes a back seat on the initial entry but the mid palate sees a return – stoned fruits and some fresh stem ginger.

Finish wise, it is quite dry and slightly peppery. This is the part where you will notice this rhum agricole the most. It leaves a grassy almost vegetal note lingering on the palate.

Further sips reveal some notes of milky tea and a slightly smoky note, alongside the bitter charred oak. Luckily it has sufficient sweetness to balance the rum overall.

Like Rhum J.M XO this is not a very grassy agricole rhum. It is likely to appeal to the palate of a molasses rum drinker as much as an agricole fan. The rhum has a really nice balance to it. May be at times it’s slightly too dry, to be perfect but I am nit-picking a little. It is certainly one of the best aged rhum agricoles I have tried to date.

A nice mix of fruitiness, complexity and balance. Great stuff.