Martinique, home to more rum distilleries than any other island in the Caribbean.

Depending on where you go, in each corner of the island, you’ll find the “local” rhum, rhum agricole to be exact — the standard rum of the French Caribbean distilled from fresh-grown sugar cane juice, not molasses.

Near the town of Riviere Pilote on the southern end of Martinique, that rum is La Mauny, whose distillery is located on a centuries-old plantation.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on a bottle of La Mauny’s VO variety.

The VO stands, unsurprisingly, for “very old.” The VO is a blend of rhums, each of which is a minimum of three years aged in oak casks.

The rhum has a slightly dark amber colour and an aroma of oak, coffee and dried fruits.

The flavour profile is grassy, marked by notes of orange peel, licorice, cashew and a hint of pepper.

All in all, it’s a vibrant rum, complex but smooth on the finish — and extremely drinkable.

— CJ