Husk Rare Blend

Husk Farm Distillery, October 26th 2024, Rum #3 Nose: Hay, brown sugar, butterscotch, ash, banana and tropical fruit (but all very subtle and balanced). Palate: Sweet and gently fruity arrival, both fresh and dried tropical fruits (mango, banana, pineapple, guava, etc) but all very reserved. As it rests, raw sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup and butterscotch emerge, and later there is a honey and white-pepper note. The texture is creamy but light. Finish: Medium. Sweet fruity notes that fade into brown sugar. The finish is not particularly long but it remains sweet and gentle until the last memory. This was the first real rum, as defined by Australian law, that we tasted at Husk and it was delightful. It is a blending of two rums, the first being a 100% sugarcane-juice “agricole” style (the same product that Husk bottles as their “Pure Cane” spirit). The second component is a rum they distill from locally produced sugarcane honey (which is essentially reduced cane spirit and the first and lightest by-product of sugar production). The two spirits are then blended and barrel-aged for 2 years. The resulting product is a very good gold rum that shows some features of aged agricole and some that are more like a gold rum produced from molasses. It's a sort of blending of Martinique and Barbados styles, and similar in some ways to both Haitian and Mauritian rums. It is good as a neat sipper (but just on the limit of sweetness for me) and it works very well as the foundation for any manner of rum cocktails. Highly recommended, particularly to any fellow Australians reading this – give it a try. The price is competitive and I'm very happy to see this type of spirit coming out of Australia. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)