Rhum Agricole: The Topic

[GarethLangston]

The rum was Clement Blanc,  with the green label.   The syrup was just 1:1 with flat champagne and cane sugar if I remember correctly. 

[FrogPrincesse]

Ti Punch with 1.5 oz J.M XO rhum agricole, 0.5 barspoon J.M cane sugar, lime coin. I am still not in love with that rhum.

 

 

[abenc85]

Hello!

I recently got my mitts on the Death & Co book and I'm keen to try a number of their recipes calling for a white rhum agricole. They like to recommend particular bottles to achieve a desired flavour profile and they of course recommend la favorite blanc which is popular in many of the NY bars.

 

Being in the UK I have found, as usual, it's a particularly difficult rum to get a hold of. I can however get Trois Rivieres Blanc, Clement Canne Bleue, Rhum J.M. Blanc, J Bally Blanc, HSE Blanc (40%) or Rhum St. Barth. I've come to read there are reasonable differences between brands of Rhum Agricole and I don't want to lose the original intention of the drink so I was interested in the community take in the closest viable alternative. I saw a blog from one of your own (tartines to tiki) who produced a few daiquiris with JM, Clement and La Favorite and the impression I got from this was that they are markedly different, so it might have to be one of the others I can get? 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2017 by abenc85 (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

12 hours ago, abenc85 said:

Hello!

I recently got my mitts on the Death & Co book and I'm keen to try a number of their recipes calling for a white rhum agricole. They like to recommend particular bottles to achieve a desired flavour profile and they of course recommend la favorite blanc which is popular in many of the NY bars.

 

Being in the UK I have found, as usual, it's a particularly difficult rum to get a hold of. I can however get Trois Rivieres Blanc, Clement Canne Bleue, Rhum J.M. Blanc, J Bally Blanc, HSE Blanc (40%) or Rhum St. Barth. I've come to read there are reasonable differences between brands of Rhum Agricole and I don't want to lose the original intention of the drink so I was interested in the community take in the closest viable alternative. I saw a blog from one of your own (tartines to tiki) who produced a few daiquiris with JM, Clement and La Favorite and the impression I got from this was that they are markedly different, so it might have to be one of the others I can get? 

 

 

 

Hello @abenc85!

 

La Favorite is excellent! I concur with Death & Co.  

As for a substitute, in your list I've tried Trois Rivieres blanc, Clement Canne bleue, J.M blanc, and in my opinion J.M is the closest as far as the flavor profile is concerned (and for use in cocktails), Canne bleue second. I don't care much for Trois Rivieres.

With the J.M make sure you get the higher proof version (50 or 55%, not the watered down 40% version).

 

They are indeed all different, but the differences are subtle. The good ones are all super grassy/vegetal, and then some are more briny than others, some have coconut notes, etc, etc. You can read the Rhum Agricole thread on eGullet for more information/discussion, or Inuakena's very thorough rhum agricole review (he reviewed all the white agricoles that are accessible to us in the US, but note that the flavor profile he goes for isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea - for example he isn't a fan of La Favorite!).

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Can you get Neisson? 

 

(She asks, drinking Neisson at the moment.)

 

[FrogPrincesse]

41 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Can you get Neisson? 

 

(She asks, drinking Neisson at the moment.)

 

He didn't say it was an option, but if it is, this is another great one!

[abenc85]

Hello and thanks for the replies!

 

Sadly Neisson is the same as la favorite - rarer than a pink giraffe here.

It's the same for inuakena's 2 top rums, Damoiseau and Duquesne!

 

JM @ 50% is easy to obtain. I do have one other option, to get them shipped from France, which will set me back another £20 postage. So my options could potentially be JM for £35, La Favorite for £45 or Neisson for £50. Would the latter 2 warrant such a premium over JM? I'm also concerned about the stability of ongoing supply what with the looming Brexit..

 

 

 

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

10 hours ago, abenc85 said:

Hello and thanks for the replies!

 

Sadly Neisson is the same as la favorite - rarer than a pink giraffe here.

It's the same for inuakena's 2 top rums, Damoiseau and Duquesne!

 

JM @ 50% is easy to obtain. I do have one other option, to get them shipped from France, which will set me back another £20 postage. So my options could potentially be JM for £35, La Favorite for £45 or Neisson for £50. Would the latter 2 warrant such a premium over JM? I'm also concerned about the stability of ongoing supply what with the looming Brexit..

 

 

 

 

 

Get all three!

 

More seriously, I would start with J.M since it's available locally to you. Then if you fall in love with rhum agricole, start collecting them!

 

[abenc85]

22 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Get all three!

 

More seriously, I would start with J.M since it's available locally to you. Then if you fall in love with rhum agricole, start collecting them!

 

 

Thank you!

 

Trying out JM Blanc to start 

[tanstaafl2]

I know Death & Co likes to list specific brands (which I in fact find helpful) but I think it might also vary depending on the cocktail. Something boozy (OK, a lot of stuff in the book is pretty boozy!) and agricole forward probably could be impacted by the brand of agricole. But others may not be so dependent on the brand depending on what else is used.

 

@FrogPrincesse as always provides excellent advice and has already covered what I would suggest. Try what you have access to and then move on from there when (not if) you come under the spell of all things agricole!

 

You might well find that to your own palate a different brand is preferable to what is recommended in a particular cocktail book, even one as good as Death & Co.

Edited March 10, 2017 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[abenc85]

On 10/03/2017 at 6:28 PM, tanstaafl2 said:

I know Death & Co likes to list specific brands (which I in fact find helpful) but I think it might also vary depending on the cocktail. Something boozy (OK, a lot of stuff in the book is pretty boozy!) and agricole forward probably could be impacted by the brand of agricole. But others may not be so dependent on the brand depending on what else is used.

 

@FrogPrincesse as always provides excellent advice and has already covered what I would suggest. Try what you have access to and then move on from there when (not if) you come under the spell of all things agricole!

 

You might well find that to your own palate a different brand is preferable to what is recommended in a particular cocktail book, even one as good as Death & Co.

 

 

That might bode well then, as I've noticed of their recipes with Rhum Agricole, a good number of the drinks call for only a small amount as part of a wider mix of rums and modifiers. They have a couple of recipes that are concentric to the spirit, and one of these specifically calls for JM Blanc, so this could work in my favour!

[Tri2Cook]

The LCBO just refuses to get it right. They finally get an agricole, I get excited, then, through a bit of searching and reading, I find out that it's not remotely similar to what people have in mind when they talk about an agricole. So that empty slot in the cabinet continues to be empty. Just for the record, the one they brought in is Saint James Royal Ambre.

[FrogPrincesse]

47 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

The LCBO just refuses to get it right. They finally get an agricole, I get excited, then, through a bit of searching and reading, I find out that it's not remotely similar to what people have in mind when they talk about an agricole. So that empty slot in the cabinet continues to be empty. Just for the record, the one they brought in is Saint James Royal Ambre.

What makes you say that? I have the Saint James Hors d'Age which is a great example of aged rhum agricole. I imagine the Royal Ambre is in the same vein, younger obviously, so it may work well in cocktails I imagine.

[Tri2Cook]

6 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

What makes you say that? I have the Saint James Hors d'Age which is a great example of aged rhum agricole. I imagine the Royal Ambre is in the same vein, younger obviously, so it may work well in cocktails I imagine.

Nothing actually makes me say that, that's just what others had to say about it when I searched it here on eGullet. That it had none of the grassiness usually associated with agricoles and had a pronounced rubbery note among other complaints. I know nothing about agricoles so the reviews of others are really all I have to go by. If I was mislead by the reviews and comments I found, I would be happy to be corrected.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Neisson l'Esprit tastes to me like butyl rubber.  I never knew it was a fault.

 

[FrogPrincesse]

4 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Nothing actually makes me say that, that's just what others had to say about it when I searched it here on eGullet. That it had none of the grassiness usually associated with agricoles and had a pronounced rubbery note among other complaints. I know nothing about agricoles so the reviews of others are really all I have to go by. If I was mislead by the reviews and comments I found, I would be happy to be corrected.

Grassiness is mostly a characteristic of white / unaged rhum agricoles, and is considerably more subtle with the aged ones. Saint James is a good brand, no longer distributed in the US as far as I understand. If I were you, I'd grab a bottle in a hurry!

 

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Grassiness is mostly a characteristic of white / unaged rhum agricoles, and is considerably more subtle with the aged ones. Saint James is a good brand, no longer distributed in the US as far as I understand. If I were you, I'd grab a bottle in a hurry!

 

I'll see what I can do. I went to the LCBO site to search for it in case you said something along that line and, of course, it's not part of their online ordering program. They made ordering online and having things shipped either to your local store or your home a thing but now they pick and choose what they want to make available to that ordering system. I'm not sure how they decide what can and can't be ordered... but this one apparently can't. I did a store search and it's not a low quantity item so I'm not sure why it can't be ordered. My local store was never good about special ordering and they're even more reluctant since the start of the online ordering thing but I'll give that a try.

[TicTac]

Ok so *finally* I have found a darling individual willing to bring back a bottle of Agricole for me.

 

He will be in Vegas and San Diego next week and was wondering what 1 bottle you knowledgeable folk would suggest as the 'best' Agricole which is somewhat available.

 

Many thanks in advance.  Very excited....!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, TicTac said:

Ok so *finally* I have found a darling individual willing to bring back a bottle of Agricole for me.

 

He will be in Vegas and San Diego next week and was wondering what 1 bottle you knowledgeable folk would suggest as the 'best' Agricole which is somewhat available.

 

Many thanks in advance.  Very excited....!

 

Congratulations!  My choices would be La Favorite Coeur de Canne (unaged) or Neisson Reserve Speciale (aged) -- assuming price constraints of course.

[TicTac]

Thanks for getting back so quick, Jo.

 

I would like to keep it under $100 USD - would those fall under that category or are there others that might now be preferable with said budget?

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited May 20, 2017 by TicTac (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

14 hours ago, TicTac said:

Thanks for getting back so quick, Jo.

 

I would like to keep it under $100 USD - would those fall under that category or are there others that might now be preferable with said budget?

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

Under $100 either of those would be my choice,

 

[FrogPrincesse]

La Favorite is about $30 for a 1 liter bottle, and is a great choice for a white agricole. I am not sure it's available in SD though. I get mine in Orange County or LA.

Edited May 21, 2017 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, FrogPrincesse said:

La Favorite is about $30 for a 1 liter bottle, and is a great choice for a white agricole. I am not sure it's available in SD though. I get mine in Orange County or LA.

 

With help from a friend, I got a bottle of the Saint James Royal Ambre we discussed above. And to my complete surprise and delight, when I opened the box, there was also a bottle of Rhum JM agricole blanc... which is not available through the LCBO. Through great generosity, I've gone from rags to riches with agricole. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Blame @FrogPrincesse -- she's the one who turned me on to La Favorite.

 

[tanstaafl2]

On ‎5‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 0:35 PM, FrogPrincesse said:

La Favorite is about $30 for a 1 liter bottle, and is a great choice for a white agricole. I am not sure it's available in SD though. I get mine in Orange County or LA.

 

 

If you can get the La Fav liter bottle for about $30 you might be able to get the 3yo La Fav Vieux agricole ($50-$55 or so in California?) as well and have both for less than $100. Might even be able to squeeze in a 6 year old Clement agricole (Also maybe $50 or so?) in place of the La Fav Vieux and still be under $100. For the aged rhum I would consider the older clement which is probably about the same price and a little more proof. Also gives you two different distilleries to explore.

 

The Neisson Reserve Speciale is very good but probably about $70 or so in California. It is a blend of different ages up to about 10 years. But it is also a 1 liter bottle and is at 100 proof so there is that! That would squeeze you in at about $100 (if you don't count tax... ).

 

If you get a choice with the Clement go for the older 6yo with a bit more proof (88 pf) over the newly released "XO" version which is also 6yo but at a lower 84 proof. Likely plenty of the 6yo bottles still around.