From the beautiful Martinique and one of the oldest distilleries in the Caribbean comes a Caribbean ode to barrel char and French-oak spiciness – the Rhum J.M Epices Créoles.
Epices Créoles is distilled from fermented cane juice. Aged a minimum of three years in French and American oak barrels with different capacities and heats. The exclusive and meticulous process of toasting the barrels developed it’s intense spiciness. Bottled in 700mls at 46%abv.
Note – this is not a ‘spiced rum’. The name refers to the spiciness imparted by the casks it is aged in. There is nothing added to this rum, no colours, no sugar and no spices or herbs. It is also non-chill filtered.
The Rhum J.M Epices Créoles (Creole Spices) is one rum in a series of three named L’Atelier des Rhums which translates as ‘The Rum Workshop’. Cellar Master Karine Lassalle has explored multiple possibilities offered by different juices, heating techniques, types of wood and barrel capacities. For the series Karine has created three blends with exceptional and unique flavour profiles – Jardin Fruité, Fumée Volcanique and Epices Créoles (fruity profile, smokey and spicey respectively).
We’ve gone with the Epices Creole for this month’s Rum of the Month because of the three, we fell the Epices Créoles offered the most complex and sippable rum of the lot (but it was a close-run race, let me tell you). The spice adds fantastic depth to cocktails – a real balance to the sweetness, and also gives this rhum real shoulders when taken neat, or with ice.
The Rhum J.M Epices Créoles is a cane-juice rhum – legally allowed to be called Agricolé Rhum under it’s own AOC – or Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (an AOC is a type of regulation commonly known as a geographical indication. Many countries have geographical indications for their native products and what they can be called).
Established in 1845, Rhum JM is one of the oldest rhum distilleries in the Caribbean, with a rich history of preserving traditional rum-making techniques while adapting to modern innovation. And this month’s ‘Epices Créoles’ encapsulates this duality perfectly. Crafted using generations-old techniques in cultivation, fermentation and distillation – yet matured in a carefully thought-out mix of wood types and char levels specifically chosen to throw the spotlight on a specific characteristic – a fairly modern innovation in rum maturation.
As I said, the Fonds-Préville Distillery (producer of Rhum J.M) is one of the oldest distilleries in the Caribbean being established in 1845. Originally a sugar farm and refinery only, the estate itself dates back to the 1700’s – cultivating cane in the rich volcanic soil at the base of Mt. Pelee (still active to this day!). In 1845 Jean-Marie Martin bought the estate and converted the sugar refinery to a rum distillery, creating a rum brand that still bears his name – Rhum J.M. The estate continues to operate as a ‘paddock to bottle’ farm/distillery to this day using methods dating back to its inception in its two copper column stills.
Our Tasting Notes:
Nose: Lots of floral notes for me here, with a honey sweetness plus vanilla and caramel with a charred oakiness somehow underpinning it all.
Palate: Lovely, oily mouthfeel as first sip, with a warming pepper spice to back up the initial burst – nothing overwhelming mind you, but a definite sides-of-the-tongue spicy! The fruit bursts through though – and lovely tropical fruit salad, whipped vanilla cream and a lovely crunchy charcoal note play very well with the multitude of biscuit spices that ties them all together.
Finish: There’s a definite sense of moving from oily to crisp and dry in the mouthfeel as the finish progresses. Lovely, sweet caramel, super-dark chocolate and subtle aniseed flavours pop up and those floral (frangipani?) notes return as you reach to pour the next round. If you can resist for thirty seconds.. you’ll be rewarded with a lengthy and fruit-tingly fadeout.
Whilst I’m looking forward to seeing what the Rum Chicks make with this; I have to admit to my major mixology accomplishment with this one being a Fever Tree Cola based Cuba Libre – and it shines in one of those let me tell you! The spices push through to really give it some ‘ooomf’. But – it’s just so easy to sip on neat (or with a big ice cube) with a spicy complexity more commonly attributed to a single malt whisky.
FROM RHUM J.M
“At Rhum J.M, we produce a rum that we want to be excellent. And our idea of excellence goes beyond that of taste. The J.M enthusiast must have the assurance that behind each of our bottles, passionate women and men have given meaning to excellence. By preserving their ecosystem, by promoting the raw material, by passing on the gestures and secrets of ancestral know-how, and by sharing the love and flavor of a unique product.”
- Emmanuel Bécheau Director of the Fonds-Préville Distillery
JM RHUM Epices Créoles ‘Atelier des Rhums’ 42% 700ml
Rhum Agricole aged for a minimum of 3 years in French and American Oak barrels with different capacities and heats.
The exclusive and meticulous process of toasting the barrels developed into intense spiciness
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Delicate on the vanilla pod, honey and warm woody notes. After agitation, subtle notes of gingerbread with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and ginger appear. Powerful and harmonious, the nose suggests a mouth with a bold character.
Palate: The attack on the palate is powerful on spicy notes: cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, pepper, almost hot pepper… spicy heat gradually gives way to toasted, roasted and almost smoky notes of oak wood.
Finish: Captivating the smoky notes with a persistent spicy feel left on the upper lips
ABOUT RHUM J.M
At the foot of Mount Pelee, a luxuriant nature thrives bordered by two rivers: Roches and Macouba. At the end of the 18th century, Antoine Leroux-Préville acquired a 164-hectare estate in this enchanting place to create a sugar mill. He gave it the name ‘Fonds-Préville’.
A century later, in 1845, the estate was bought by Jean-Marie Martin who gave a new impulse to the sugar factory by transforming it into a distillery. Shipped to Saint-Pierre, the rums with the initials ‘J.M’ were increasingly successful.
In 1912, the distillery was bought by the Crassous de Médeuil family. The two estates (Fonds-Préville and Bellevue) were then combined to form a single estate of 400 hectares. Major improvements are made, which contribute to give J.M. rum its reputation.
In 2002, the Martinique-based family business G.B.H bought the distillery. A few years later, the group undertook a complete modernization of the site to make it a model distillery, a jewel of intelligence and harmony with nature.
