Depaz Blue Cane Amber 1-Year

Elements of grass, oak, and honey. Perfectly balanced with a natural underlying sweetness, so while it’s definitely more dry proving it’s an agricole, it is also an undisputed rum. Floral notes too. What makes this one so great is the combination of these complexities with all being present, with none dominating any other, and a super-smooth drinkability which almost makes you forget it’s a spirit. Must be the blue cane; I’ve never had an agricole quite like this one.

My favorite rhum to drink! Makes the best Mohito!
Has the best flavor of them all!

Earthy, woodsy, grassy common with Agricole and cachaca rhums. This has a nice flavor which I'm sure has something to do with the sweet and flavorful blue sugarcane and fertile volcanic soil.
Class act that should be included in everyone's collection, house rhum and liquor cabinet.

I’m a chef and use it in Glazes sauce it’s amazing sipping rum smooth and not over powering

A nice treat to stumble upon. Not a sweet rum, but a beautiful rum from deep roots that go way back to a time and place where rum was born. Made from blue cane juice, not molasses, gets a tip of the hat and nod from me every time... even though I like the sweeter rums... this one gets my respect. Yummy.

This was my first agricole and it took many more agricoles and cachacas before I embracd the flavor profile, now I search for them everywhere. Depaz Blue Cane Agricole is a well balanced rum with a hint of oak.

Bottle: Simple, tasteful.
Color: Very light brown, slightly yellow.
Bottle Aroma: Immediate grassy, earthy must, slight oak.
Glass Aroma: Agricole style starts to open up, slight alcohol odor.
Taste: Similar to a cachaca, light flavor with a slow transition to the heat, very mild oak throughout, light heat in the throat.

Very, very drinkable rum and an excellent oak balance. I have come back to this rum and am glad to have done so.

And when I mean complex I mean how it does this complex dance on the tongue. Let me explain...

First off, the aroma in the bottle is enticing...almost buttery sweet...sort of a butter-sugar toast. I like it. Then the flavor.

Wow!

First thing that hits you is a nice natural sweetness with hints of vanilla and toffee from the blue cane but then that turns into a nice spiciness before the oak flavor hits and causes your tongue to tingle. Then the warmth hits your throat slowly fading into a buttery spicy goodness.

That's what I mean by complex. And I can imagine someone with a more educate palate than mine would be able to distinguish even more levels of flavor.

This is a very good agricole rum that would work well by itself as a sipping rum as well as a rum used in mixed drinks and colas. Definitely versatile. Even though I have not tried one myself I imagine this would be an excellent rum for hot toddys.

Perusing through all of my ratings for rhum agricoles, it seemed like an impossibility to pair great taste with a decent price. Most of the ones that I have yet to try are seriously overpriced. Many months ago, I remember looking up reviews on this one, but it was nowhere to be found on liquor store shelves in my area. Well today, I ran across a bottle of this for only $31 and figured that it could rate as a 7 at best.

I poured a half ounce into the snifter and let it breathe for a while. The aroma is very unique, possibly from the rare blue cane used to distill it. The taste is super smooth and buttery and is one of those rums that it would be all too easy to consume the whole bottle neat. My goodness, this stuff is close to heaven! It makes a great Mai Tai when perfectly paired to Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican rum (or other favorite Jamaican), but why waste it as a mixer. However, it is cheap enough to do such a thing and not feel guilty.

This leads to another question. If this lesser known brand from Martinique beats the taste out of the other ones and is priced this low, how much are those other brands ripping everyone off? I am so glad that I did not abandon my search for a great rhum agricole at a sensible price.

Update February 13, 2019: Out of the 10 Martinquan rhum agricoles that I have tried, this is the only one deserving of my rating of an 8. This also includes going up against 3 from Haiti, 2 from Louisiana and 1 from Florida.

Update August 29, 2019: I tried to buy another bottle of this from the same merchant that I got my first bottle from. I was told that I had gotten that bottle on clearance, which is why it was so cheap. They will not stock it anymore. So this was a once in a lifetime treat. If you do find a bottle of this, it is the best rhum agricole for adding to Appleton Reserve Blend and Clement Creole Shrub to make the perfect Mai Tai. If you can't find this rhum, then Rhum J.M. VO is the next best bet.

First, if you don't like agricole, you probably won't like anything in this category. The Depaz is grassy, but remains soft and drinkable on the rocks. It is more subtle than most agricole. If you are looking for a big grassy and vegetal rhum, this won't be your favorite.

Sadly, this ambitious U.S. release is no longer produced, and was available at a time when practically nobody in North America was drinking agricole rum - hence the slightly subdued profile. However, having said that, this rum works wonders in the mix and proved to be a fantastic all-rounder with an above-average taste and mixability factor. On the nose, there's subtle, light grassiness with twangs of oak wood and a certain undercurrent of earthiness to it. On the plate, it may seem soft for 90 proof, but the mid opens up with some subtle peppery spice and woody earthiness which is quite pleasant. Finish is dry and lingering with a touch of black pepper. In the mix, it totally shines - makes a fabulous Daiquiri or Ti Punch and slowly evolves into a very characterful and complex number with a great body and balance of flavors - particularly on the finish where the earthy, grassy, barrel-like notes push through and integrate well. I really miss this rum and thought the blend was (and still is) a perfect introduction to the agricole style for Americans. If you happen to see an old bottle on the shelf (list price was $40) snap it up!