Cane juice rum - from Italy!?!
Yes, you read that correctly. Cane grown on the Mediterranean island of Sicily - pressed, fermented, and distilled into beautiful, clear rum.
Well that's pretty exciting, isn't it? Obviously we can't call it Agricole, but I will be testing it against a couple of unaged Agricole rums as a baseline for comparison.
Sugar cane is not a new thing in Sicily. Once a major sugar producer, cane was planted here, on its journey west from southern Asia, as early as the 7th century! A long stopover on its way to Madeira, the Canary Islands and beyond. (*pre rum, so just sugar back then)
Mater Rum - Sicily [photo credit Mater website]
Alma Distilleria - Mater Rum, trailblazers.
I found a wealth of information about the distillery, and the project, online; first and foremost on their website Alma Distilleria, also from the excellent spirits blog TheJackDrop and last but by no means least on Will & John's Rumcast episode where they interview the charismatic co-founder Hugo Gallardo.
Hugo and his partners Annalisa and Alejandro took a leap of faith bringing sugar cane back to Sicily and producing one of the first Sicilian cane juice rums.
They planted their first cane in 2021 and it flourished in Sicily's rolling coastal hills.
They selected two varieties - violet and yellow. Chosen to complement each other, Violet is slower ripening (reaching up to 21 brix), and the aromatic yellow peaks earlier (at 23 brix).
Artisan 'field to glass' producers, Mater hand harvests daily from March to June. The cane is pressed through their small mill before a long (72-96hr) fermentation using wine yeast (*they also experiment with different yeasts). Finally, they distil using a 600-litre bain-marie pot still with a small column containing up to six plates - plenty of opportunity for more experimentation. Finally, the rum is rested in steel prior to bottling.
2000kg cane cut each day, resulting in 1000l of 'wash' and just 150 bottles of rum.
Mater experimented with double distillation but landed on a single run resulting in a fuller flavour that better showcases the cane.
Today I'm tasting bottlings from their 2024 harvest; violet and yellow single cane varietals, and a blend of the two. A super cool project and I can't wait to get stuck in and try them!
Three samples, 25ml of each, left in glasses to open up for 30 mins, nosed first, then tasted, in increasing abv order (as per the lead photo). Assisted today by Ofege - Try and Love, a super cool band from the 70s. A bunch of 15 to 17-year-old Nigerian hippies making music far ahead of their time and age!
Nose: Quite complex and interesting. A great balance of the two cane profiles. Delicate and earthy with a background of brine and olives. And a little unexpected touch of parma violet sweets.
Mouth: Marshmallow quickly gives way to tasty, sour, tangy fruit. Natural sweetness balances the fruit acid well. It heads off to a zesty, bitter finish but pulls back before it gets too extreme, and we get a revisit from the toasted marshmallow natural sweetness. And peppermint from the canne violet. I'd invite a touch more of the brine that works well in the background but overall it's a well-balanced, quality cane juice rum. [84+pts]
Nose: Earthy, liquorice, apricots, dried flowers, menthol, touch of salt, alcohol fairly present, lemon zest. Weighty.
Mouth: Spicy. Chilli heat. Citrus zest. Fizzes. Fresh. Quite sharp. It's enjoyable, although not super intense or complex. A touch of citrus pith bitterness runs into a mid-length finish. Clean, honest, decent cane juice rum[82+pts]
Nose: A bigger one. Salt, brine and olives. Bold. Orchard fruit. Hint of smoke. More fun and intense than the Jaune - less 'beautiful' and delicate. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
Mouth: Rustic. Rough, dirty even. But I love that. Oily. Feels textured in the mouth. Minerality, spicy, earthy. Pear core and skin. Fabulous. A massive smash of peppermint arrives later. This has personality! [83+pts]
Conclusions -
A fascinating project with impressive early results. Yes, there's some sharp edges, with bitterness and fruit acid splashing around but these are interesting, well-made rums that warrant your attention. Most certainly these would be the highlight of any cocktail needing cane juice rum, and I would encourage anyone buying a bottle to enjoy a few neat drams too, to really get to know the nuances of Italian cane juice rum!
Following their intent to keep experimenting, you'll not be surprised to hear about prototype molasses and cane syrup rums. And what about barrel-aged Sicilian cane juice rum I hear you ask? Watch this space...
With Luca and Capo also now setting up a Sicilian rum distillery, hopefully this is the start of a new category in the rum world.
Coming soon ... a side-by-side I've been eager to do for ages. Cask-aged Providence rum, from Haiti.
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