Unique UNAGED RUMS (Part 3 of 4): Holmes Cay Réunion Island Grand Arôme Rum Distillerie de Savanna 

It's such a rollercoaster! I need to try of dash of it in cocktails!

It is so different from Rum Fire! Rum Fire is fruitier with tons of overripe pineapple and other tropical fruit. Both of them are super flavorful and complex though!

It's so unique and complex! I'll have to try it with some Topo Chico!

Oh that sounds wonderful!

I honestly think I could taste this every day for a month and get different notes each time.

Hahaha he'll appreciate that!

It's such a fun rum to share! From what I understand, the process of making grand arome rum has a lot of similarities to the processes used in Jamaica to make high-ester rums. They use stillage/dunder/vinasse in the fermentation along with molasses. The fermentations go for at least a week, where they reach a wash strength of about 5% abv. Some distilleries (Le Galion) use spontaneous fermentation, while others (Savanna) use specific strains of yeast and bacteria. There isn't any mention of cane vinegar or muck. And probably the biggest difference between high-ester Jamaican rums and grand arome rums is the distillation. Grand arome rums are distilled on column stills.

@@RobynSmithPhD awesome! Thanks for answering! Where do you educate yourself for distilling and rum production? I’m pretty curious as most of what I know comes from the rumcast, word of mouth from my local rum club, and r/firewater

@@6AnAsianGuy9 That's awesome that you have a rum club! The rumcast and r/firewater are good starting sources! I read a lot of posts on Boston Apothecary and Rum Wonk. I also seek out research published in scientific journals and have a number of rum and distilling books. My background is in chemical engineering, so that provides a good foundation for distilling. I also was the lead research chemist at Lost Spirits Distillery, where I got to learn a lot about rum! If you're curious about learning more, I'd say check out posts on Rum Wonk by Matt Pietrek first! He has a lot of approachable info about how different styles of rum are produced. He also published Modern Caribbean Rum, which has so much info about how rum is made in the Caribbean. Then Boston Apothecary has so many deep dives into old manuscripts about making rum. Depending on how technical you want to get, I can provide more suggestions!