Damoiseau Blanc rhum agricole. This is a rum from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, and is abso-freaking-lutely fantastic. If you’ve ever thought that “white rum” is all the same, light in flavor and fit only for mixing with sugary juices, read on.

What is this “rhum agricole” and how does it differ from rum? Simply put, “rhum” is just the French spelling of “rum,” and “agricole” refers to the style of production popular in the French islands where fresh sugarcane juice is used for fermentation/distillation instead of the more common choice of molasses (a byproduct of refined or cane sugar production). This generally leads to a vegetal and almost grassy flavor to the end product (after all, sugarcane is a tall grassy plant filled with the nectar of the gods), and can pick up more characteristics of the local terroir (land) from where the sugarcane was harvested.

This production style actually arose out of necessity rather than any type of ‘fanciness.’ In the 1800s, the French islands were massive producers of sugarcane, but when sugar beets were discovered as a cheaper alternative for sugar production, the demand for sugarcane sugar decreased dramatically, hurting the local economy. Thus, with excess sugarcane, the idea for using the fresh juice directly for rum production was born. Hallelujah!

Even though this style of production is very popular for French rhums, and sometimes “French-style” rhum is synonymously used for sugarcane/agricole rhums, do note that not ALL French rhums are agricole – you can also find French-produced molasses-based rhums, referred to as “rhum traditionnel” or “rhum industriel.” If you’ve never tried an agricole rhum, I highly recommend you give it a shot! It’s somewhat of an acquired taste, but once you get into it, you’ll fall in love. 😉