The Season – Clement 10 Years
When it comes to rum, I often overlook the ones distilled from sugarcane juice. To change that, I am presenting a rather old Rhum Agricole from the island of Martinique to you today. From what I can tell you so far, the Clement 10 Years really is worth a try! Apart from that, I also came up with a great Rum Manhattan variation using it.
The Simon Distillery produces the Clement 10 Years Rhum in the French overseas department of Martinique. Fermentation which produces the so-called Vesou, takes two to three days. Next, the sugarcane juice mash is distilled to an ABV of 72 %. Afterwards, the rhum spends one year in new oak casks and then nine years in recharred Bourbon barrels. In the end, the Clement 10 Years is bottled at 42 % ABV.
Balanced cognac notes
The Clement 10 Years differs from your usual aged Rhum Agricole. Instead of a lot of grassy notes, the Rhum is very smooth. At the same time, it also has complex flavours with a lot of spices. This way, the Rhum reminded me of a fine, aged cognac or even a mellow Scotch. In conclusion, if you like dry, yet refined spirits, you should definitely check out this Rhum and its mellow complexity!
A Drunken Dodo version
For my drink with the Clement 10 Years I wanted to keep it relatively simple, but also enhance the flavours which I already had found in the Rhum. Therefore, I decided to use the Drunken Dodo cocktail from Brian Miller as a base. Basically, I kept everything except changing the rum. Since that seemed a bit uninspired I also rinsed the glass with the Amalfi Cello from Spiritus Rex instead of using a orange peel as a garnish. On top of that, I also thought this would better suit the name of the cocktail.
3 cl Gölles Rosso Sweet Vermouth
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Rinse Glass with Spiritus Rex Amalfi Cello
Stir – rinse glass with Amalfi Cello – strain – chilled Cocktail glass;
Garnish: Dried Bergamot Wheel;
Song: The Dodos – The Season;
The drink starts with a powerful combination of spices. You can taste cloves, cinnamon and of course allspice. The Rhum works very well with the vermouth which I intentionally chose to compliment the flavours. Furthermore, the cocktail clearly shows similarities to a regular Rum Manhattan, but it tastes a bit more elaborate. All in all, the Amalfi Cello just adds a little hint of citrus which the drink would lack otherwise.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The Rhum was provided by Ferrand Spirits.
