IT’S NO SECRET that here at Rum Journal we’re big fans of the rhum of the Guadeloupe Islands, which remains largely undiscovered in much of the English-speaking world.

While their neighbours in Martinique receive much acclaim (and deservedly), these similarly agricole rhums deserve their place among the top in the world.

Our latest engagement with the rhums of Guadeloupe came with Rhum Montebello, produced at the Carrere distillery in the Petit-Bourg section of the island of Basse-Terre.

This was a somewhat hard-to-find seven-years-aged edition of the brand’s Vieux Rhum, aged in oak barrels.

The rhum has a slightly dark amber colour, with an aroma of molasses with a slight hint of maple.

The flavour profile includes notes of dried banana, toffee, licorice, citrus peel, oak and coffee.

Basse-Terre is the lush, mountainous corner of Guadeloupe, with volcanically rich soil — that means a distinct kind of earthiness to the rhum, too.

All in all, a solid offering from Montebello and, like many rhums from the archipelago, the perfect after-dinner drink.

— CJ