The Best Unaged Rhum Agricole

The Damoiseau family produces spirits in the rhum agricole style using 100% first-pressed sugarcane juice grown at the Grand Terre estate. The Virgin Cane rum (rhum) is distilled just once to impart the true flavors of the cane juice, then the clear spirit is aged 6 months in stainless steel vats. Natural spring water is added to bring the spirit down to bottle proof.

The Duquesne rhum lineup hails from the Caribbean island of Martinique, at the La Mauny distillery. This agricole-style rhum starts as freshly pressed sugarcane juice which is fermented and then distilled via a single copper-column still. It rests in steel tanks for four to six months before bottling. It’s imported to the United States by Ed Hamilton’s Caribbean Spirits, the same importer for the well-regarded Neisson, La Favorite, and Ministry of Rum bottlings. A nice bonus is the 1-liter bottle size.

Clément Première Canne Rhum Blanc Agricole is made from select varieties of sugarcane which are grown at Habitation Clément. After pressing, fermentation takes place before it is distilled once. The distillate rests for nine months in a stainless steel vat. It has volcanic spring water slowly added to bring to 40% ABV before bottling.

The Arcane is an agricole-style rhum (though they use the more recognizable "rum" spelling) from Mauritius, made with fresh cane juice. Cane Crush undergoes a double distillation - first in Mauritius in traditional pot-stills to process the cane juice while it's fresh, then it's transported to Cognac for distillation in small alembic stills. From there it's bottled unaged.

Rhum J.M. Blanc is produced from estate-grown cane harvested each spring after a full year's growth. Within an hour of harvest, the brand has fresh-pressed sugarcane juice which is then allowed to undergo a natural fermentation for 36-48 hours. The fermented juice is distilled in a Créole copper column still to 70% ABV after which the rum is rested for at least three months in stainless tanks. It is then reduced to bottle-strength with volcanic, mineral water sourced from the estate.

Clément Canne Bleue Rhum Blanc Agricole is made from one varietal of sugarcane -- blue sugarcane. After pressing and fermentation, it is distilled once. The resulting distillate rests for just over six months in a stainless steel vat. Distilled volcanic spring water is slowly added to bring the product to 50% ABV before bottling.

The San Francisco Bay Area’s St. George Spirits dates back to 1982 when they opened one of the first craft distilleries in the U.S. Their vast product line spans nearly every category of spirits, traditional or otherwise. St. George Spirits California Agricole Rum uses sugarcane sourced from California’s Imperial Valley, which is immediately shipped to the distillery for pressing. Distillation is done in a 500-liter copper pot-still, which differs from real column-distilled rhum agricole made in Martinique. It’s bottled unaged at 43%. The distillery also has a four-year, French oak aged version of this rum.

Produced from pure cane sugar grown in the volcanic soils of the island of Martinique, La Favorite Rhum Agricole is distilled in a copper column-still. Founded in 1842, La Favorite is one of the few remaining independently owned rhum distilleries in the world.