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Virgin Cane Rhum
Product of Sydney
Australia
Virgin Cane Rhum is a small batch of Sydney’s first rum in decades and the third release under the Archie Rose Concepts label, reserved for our rarest and most experimental releases.
Inspired by Australia’s distilling heritage, Virgin Cane Rhum was distilled in 2016 from freshly cut and pressed sugar cane from Condong, northern NSW. With just 182 bottles released at the cask strength of 56.8%, it expresses notes of chervil, olives, marshmallow and fresh earth.
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Auburn
Nose
Composed and refined yet generous. The verdant aromas of pine needles, white sage, raspberries and chervil greet you at first nosing. With time, the influence of the cask emerges with notes of crème brûlée and toffee which are framed by rose and white musk. In the background a note of forest floor can be found.
Palate
A round oily texture which belies the natural cask strength. Flavours of white chocolate biscuits, tarragon and honey intermingle.
Finish
A remarkable tension between sweet and savoury elements which dovetails into black olives and seaspray. The faint impression of smoke is left on the palate.
Production Notes
Sugar Cane Sourced
Sugar Cane Sourced
A spirit is only as good as the materials used to make it. Great effort has been taken to showcase the bounty of local ingredients available to us in New South Wales. Working with the farmers, millers and refiners allowed the best parcels of cane for our purposes to be selected.
| Cane Variety | Age of Cane | Treatment | Origin | Cultivation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q208 | 1 year old | Virgin harvest | Condong, New South Wales | Accredited sustainably grown |
| KQ228 | 2 years old | Virgin harvest | Condong, New South Wales | Accredited sustainably grown |
| Q240 | 2 years old | Virgin harvest | Condong, New South Wales | Accredited sustainably grown |
Milling and Fermentation
Milling and Fermentation
The virgin cane was harvested fresh from the field, crushed, inoculated with yeast and transported to the distillery within 12 hours. To make this rum the essence of the land was imported into the distillery without compromise.
| Milling | Yeast | Fermentation | Fermentation time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juice expressed from cane by mill operator Kent Selby at 4:00am. Milling took place at a cooperative sugar mill in Condong, NSW | Specialist rum strain cultured from wild indigenous strain | Yeast pitched into bulk transport vessels filled with fresh cane juice before transport in refrigerated trucks | 72 - 120 hours |
Distillation
Distillation
Triple distilled in two handmade copper pot stills has allowed the character of the cane to shine. Distillation cuts are taken by nose and palate ensuring that flavour is always placed ahead of efficiency.
| Spirit into still | Spirit Out of still | Stills | Manufacturer | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fermented wash and low feints | Fores, feints, low feints and intermediate hearts | Wash still | Knapp Lewer, Tasmania | 3600L |
| Fores and feints from previous run and low wines | Intermediate hearts | Spirit still | Knapp Lewer, Tasmania | 1500L |
| Intermediate hearts | Final hearts | Spirit still | Knapp Lewer, Tasmania | 1500L |
Maturation
Maturation
Only select distillations which showed an especially rich profile were set aside for maturation. Lighter distillations were carefully blended to create the white spirit Virgin Cane. Three casks were rested for maturation of which one whole cask leaked.
| Location of maturation | Cask number | Cask | Barreling date | Disgorging date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosebery | VCR-01 | 100 litre ex-Bourbon | 11/11/16 | 12/12/18 |
| Rosebery | VCR-02 | 100 litre ex-Bourbon | 11/11/16 | 12/12/18 |
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