Rum
Planteray Rum drives its Caribbean profile into vintage French cognac casks
Sep
Maturation matters for Planteray Rum, a brand building a Caribbean success story on French cognac tradition
It’s 26 years since Alexandre Gabriel, the owner of Maison Ferrand in the south of France, founded Planteray Rum in Barbados. Known initially as Plantation Rum, the renamed family-owned firm owns Stade’s Distillery in Bridgetown, the capital of the Caribbean island nation of Barbados. It’s here that it produces a range of double-casked fine rums that are distinguished by their dual provenance and cask selection.
Matured in ex-bourbon and French oak casks, the company’s mission is to develop the rum category within the family’s centuries-old tradition of aged cognac. Using slow fermentation, pot and column still distillation, it bottles exceptional rums from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and beyond.
After initial maturation in the Caribbean, much of the rum embarks on a lengthy journey to France for a second maturation in French oak. It’s a costly approach that creates some stunning flavour combinations.
Here are three Planteray bottles from our shelves – two vintage and one core creation – to help you get to know the brand better:
€60.61 (Ex. VAT)
Planteray Vintage Barbados 2007
This 16-year-old double-casked rum was distilled in 2007 in Brighton Beach, Barbados. It spent two years in cask there before maturing for a further 14 years in Ferrand cognac casks. This is a superb combination of casks that elevates the rich flavour of this 48.7% rum.
Fermented for three days, the molasses base of this fine rum was distilled in a combination of copper pot stills and column stills before its mix of tropical and continental European cask maturation.
Aroma: The nose of the Barbados 2007 edition is packed with cinnamon, nuts, spiced oak, citrus, and vanilla. It’s an inviting experience that fills the senses.
Palate: The taste follows quickly with layers of custard, crème brûlée, coconut and pepper.
Finish: The finish on this complex Planteray rum release is long and distinguished with notes of coconut, honey, aniseed and lots more vanilla.
Planteray Vintage Venezuela Rum 2010
The Venezuela edition of this exciting series is a 12-year-old double-casked, two-country matured knockout. Distilled in Venezuela at Destileria Sofa, a historic rum house located approximately 45 minutes from the coast of the Caribbean Sea, it was created in 2010.
This molasses-based rum spent eight years maturing in ex-bourbon casks under the Venezuelan sun. All 22 barrels then made the long journey to Javrezac in the Charente region of France to be transferred into French oak from this cognac maker. It spent another four years there in its second maturation, emerging for bottling at 52% ABV.
Aroma: You’ll discover nutmeg, mandarin, coconut, coffee and nuts on this rich, complex rum.
Palate: The long years in wood have created a spiced wood profile with unusual layers of tobacco, almonds, pepper and tropical fruit cream.
Finish: Notes of mango, banana and orange continue on the deep finish with lots of hazelnuts, pepper and cloves
Planterary Cut and Dry Coconut Barbados Rum
This truly tropical hybrid combines the very best of island flavours with rum’s Caribbean heritage in a beautiful way. It’s made in Stade’s Distillery, founded in 1893.
The team at Stade’s took island-grown coconuts, sun-dried them, and infused them in a blend of pot still and column still-produced Barbados rum. The fusion creates a coconut-heavy, sweet and fragrant 40% pour that’s part of the Planteray Rum Bar Classics Range.
Aroma: The nose of this delicate fusion carries notes of coconut, vanilla and tropical fruit.
Palate: On the taste, you’ll find a creamy, rich coconut flavour laden with caramelised sugar, oak spice and deep vanilla.
Finish: The finish is long and sweet with a distinct toasted coconut profile.
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