Above: Habitation Clement in Martinique (CJ Photo)

Local.

It’s a word whose meaning has broadened in recent years. Today, it means authentic, it means close by, it means fresh.

And while we love rums from all over the Caribbean, an increasing number don’t source their core ingredients locally — that is, they get their sugarcane from abroad — using imported molasses.

In Martinique, that’s never the case — the island’s rhum agricoles are made from sugar cane juice, not molasses, and the journey from cane field to distillery is usually measured in metres — not miles.

That brings us to a new rum from one of Martinique’s leading distilleries: Habitation Clement.

Clement, which has, in a short time, become the leading exporter of rhum agricoles to the up-until-now untapped market, continues to innovate, with the latest rum to hit the international market being its Canne Bleue Rhum Blanc Agricole.

Above: Habitation Clement at CJ Headquarters in Miami

It’s a white rhum, at the 50 percent ABV that’s standard for rhums blancs in the French Caribbean, and made, crucially, from a single variety of sugarcane: “blue” sugarcane, the most prestigious, highest-quality cane.

What that means a locally-sourced, single-variety rum that has a taste all its own.

The white rhum has a clean, grassy aroma with a hint of cane stalk; its flavour profile is marked by grassy, vegetal, fresh, slightly smoky notes, with a suggestion of black pepper and even some vanilla.

It’s extremely fresh and smooth – the essence of rhum agricole.

With this rhum, you’re getting a pure taste of the terroir — the taste of the earth, of the cane, of the island.

With this rum, you really get a local flavour — no matter where drink it.

— CJ