Isautier 16 Year Old Molasses Rum

The Mascarene Archipelago lies to the east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The island of Reunion is famous for its dramatic volcanic landscape - which results in highly fertile soil. Sugar cane has been grown extremely well here for centuries, thriving in the sandy humus-rich soil and tended to by over 3,000 planters in its humid, maritime climate.

Founded in 1845 by French explorers Louis and Charles Isautier, Maison Isautier has been a family-run distillery for seven generations, with more than 176 years of history and tradition. It stands as the oldest rum distillery and company on Reunion Island.

Isautier holds a unique space in the world of rum: producing both rhum agricole from fresh cane juice as well as traditional rum from molasses. Now lead by Cyril Isautier, the distillery has produced some of the most iconic spirits of their region.

La Maison & Velier is proud of this collaboration: selected together with Cyril as a co-bottled series of exceptional casks coming from the oldest stocks in their cellar.

Fermented molasses with an ABV of approximately 8% is distilled on a traditional, two-column still. This specific still consists of a stripping column and concentration column, where the aromatic compounds are carefully separated by the master distillers.

This cask was barreled in 2006 and aged for 16 years in the tropical conditions of La Reunion until it was bottled in September of 2022. Bottled at 57% with no adulteration.

Profile: Profound and mineral-driven.

Nose: Lush and powerful. Dried apricot, bitter orange, vanilla, lavender and honey.

Palate: Refined and concentrated. Cocoa, dahlia, persimmon, orange jam, coconut and camphor.

Finish: Long and supple. Honeysuckle, ginseng, ripe orange, toffee and herbaceous.