RHUM AGRICOLE AND CACHACA
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RHUM AGRICOLE AND CACHACA?
I´ve read so many articles and seen so much confuison when it comes to what exactly is the difference between rhum agricole and cachaca. And then there`s rhum Barbancourt, is it or is it not a rhum agricole?
So i got the bright (?) idea to write a blog post and try to see if i can sort out what the differences are. I might not have it all clear either. To a large part i have Ed Hamilton and all the fellow members of the Ministry of Rum to thank for what i today know about rums. If i have missed anything or have something wrong here, or if there´s more to it, please feel free to comment.
Cachaça is distilled from fermented sugar cane juice while most (but not all ) rum is a distillate of fermented molasses.
Cachaça is typically distilled to between 38 and 48% abv while rhum agricole in the French islands is distilled to about 72% abv. Then of course, Cachaca must be made in Brazil while rhum agricole if made in Martinique must carry the AOC mark. Some people says cachaca should be called rum and others says rum should be called cachaca..I myself call rum for rum and cachaca is cachaca and rhum agricole is, well..rhum agricole. And sensorial - they taste completely different.
RHUM AGRICOLE
Rhum agricole is made from pure sugar cane juice which has been fermented and fermentation begins within hours of the cane being harvested.
Martinique is the only geographic area in the sugar cane spirits industry, with an Appelation and rhum agricole made in Martinique carries the AOC or Appelation d’origine Controlée mark. Rum from molasses is also produced and its called ‘rhum industriel’ or ‘rhum traditionnel’. Rhum agricole is distilled to about 72% abv.
The rhum agricole that is made in the other french islands such as Guadeloupe, la Reunion etc would probably not meet the AOC requirements since one of the requirements is the type of cane and then geographic areas, drainage, soil type, etc
Rhum agricole is also made in French Guyana and two of the most known brands is La Belle Cabresse and La Cayennaise. These rhum agricoles has a slight different flavor than the agricoles made in Martinique.
La Belle Cabresse for instance is less refined with a spicy floral note and a lot of flavor. I have only tried La Belle Cabresse, but La Cayennaise is said to be sweeter and rounder and a bit less herbal but with a distictive agricole flavor. Very interesting rums.
On the whole, rhum agricoles are very diverse even within the same island. As for the “terroir”, its not just the soil and type of cane that is used, its also the tradition of the spirit which includes the fermentation, distillation, and blending and its not limited to that.
The rhums from Martinique are lighter and more refined than the rhums from Guadeloupe for example, which are heavier and in my own opinion much more “grassy”.
THE AOC
The AOC or Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée mark was adopted by the Martinique distillers in 1996 and it is unique to the rhum of Martinique.
Rhum agricole can be bottled in Martinique or France but i`ve heard they may tighten the regulations so that the AOC mark can only be carried by rhum agricole bottled in Martinique. The Martinique AOC regulations were adopted to improve the quality and value of their products.
RHUM BARBANCOURT
Rhum Barbancourt isn`t considered a rhum agricole even though its made from sugar cane juice. It seems to be in a class of its own. It has been suggested that sometimes the sugar cane juice is mixed with concentrated sugar cane syrup, but i dont know if there´s any evidence for it. There isn`t much information on how this rum is made. It certainly is a very fine and good rum.
There is two versions of the 15 year old Reserve du Domaine. Its the first version that has a serial number on the back and a newer version that is labeled Estate Reserve and that do not have any serial number.
The old Reserve du Domaine is said to be darker, richer and smoother while the new version is a bit sweeter, lighter and a bit less smooth. i haven`t been able to compare them myself.
The difference between them is most likely to be because of the chill filtration on the rums that are for export to non-tropical countries. The chill filtration technique is used to avoid the deposits or haze which could temporarily occur when the bottles are subject to colder temperatures. Its also a commercial process to standardise the product, its even written on Barbancourts home page that they use chill filtration.
Unfortunately the chill filtration removes esters and aldehydes, as well as some of the rums natural oils, which leads to a altering of the flavor profile and general mouthfeel of the rum.
CACHACA
According to Brazilian law cachaça must be distilled from 38 up to 54% alcohol by volume and its bottled at 38-48% abv. Up to 6mg sugar can be added. Cachaça can be made from fresh sugar cane juice or melado which is sugar cane juice which has been reduced but without removing any crystalline sugar out of the juice.
The harvested sugarcane is washed and pressed through large metal rollers to extract the juice and its this first pressing that makes cachaca. The juice is then filtered to extract any cane fragments etc before the process of fermenting. Cachaca is fermented in wooden or copper vats and then boiled down three times and the result is a sticky concentrate.
The aging process yields a cachaça with a smoother taste and most often a yellow or caramel color. Premium cachacas are distilled in such a way that the sugarcane flavor isnt lost. To be labeled “aged” a cachaca must be aged at least one year according to Brazilian law.
Most often the cachaca producers uses a leavening agent in the production of their cachaca, meaning that during the stage of fermentation they will add corn meal, corn flour or rice bran, to the sugar cane must. And that these grain additions will add distinctive flavors and aromas to the cachaca besides producing the alcohol.
This is a fermentation starter mash that is made from cane juice and toasted corn meal which is generally and tradtionally practised. Traditionally cachaça is fermented using indigenous yeast strains that are naturally occurring in the cane. Artisanal cachaça is typically made in batch potstills, while industrial cachaça is made with continuous column stills.
So these are the main things that differentiates cachaca from rhum agricole as far as i know. Then when it comes to rum, apart from rhum agricole, its made from molasses, a totally different way to produce this sugar cane spirit.
To round this up i made a ti punch with palmsugar and a ginger caipirinha.
DIRTY VIEUX PALM SUGAR TI POOONCH
1 oz rhum agricole blanc
1 oz rhum agricole vieux
A slice off the side of a lime or as much as you prefer
0.5 oz palm sugar syrup
Start squeezing the lime and drop into the glass. Add the palm sugar syrup and the rhums and stir to mix. Add a cracked ice cube if you like.
FRESH GINGER CAIPIRINHA
2 oz cachaca
0.5-1 oz simple syrup or 1 heaped tblsp raw sugar.
I use raw sugar even though its not dissolving as easily as the traditionally used superfine sugar because i like the flavor of the specific raw sugar i have (Billingtons golden natural unrefined cane sugar) better.
1/2 to 1 lime depending on size. Cut the ends off, then the pith and cut it in pieces.
2 cm piece of fresh ginger,sliced.
Muddle lime, sugar and ginger in a rocks glass, add crushed ice and cachaca, stir well. Fill up with more crushed ice if needed. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Is there anything aside from distillation abv, terroir, AOC and the use of leavening agents that is distictly different about the production of rhum agricole and cachaca?
R. Agricole is not that common in tiki-drinks of our favourite Bum. What other rums could be substituted with R. A.?
Keep up the good work!
Petter, i think that if i didn`t have rhum agricole for one of the bums tikidrinks (martinique rhum in his books)i would go for rum, i would probably use a golden rum. Even though cachaca is made in a similar way as agricole i don´t think it tastes the same.
I’ve been wondering this very same question for quite some time, and it’s nice to finally have a reasoned answer!
I guess that goes both ways then? If I want to use my Rhum Agricole I’ll substitute a golden rhum.
Well Petter, not..really, i dont think there is any substitution for rhum agricole as it has a taste of its own, but if you didnt have it, well..
But if you dont have a golden rum i wouldnt use agricole, i would use a dark rum.
Great post. Thanks, Tiare!
T,
So informative!
If you had to suggest one rhum agricole for people to try that have never had it, which one would it be?
Thank you Rowen!
Rick, i would suggest Neisson blanc or la Favorite blanc, can`t decide which one.
Interesting. I didn’t know about leavening agents in cachaca.
About Barbancourt, I am pretty sure they use some sugar cane syrup in their rums. I visited the distillery and this is what the distiller told me they did. No reason I can think of for him to lie about this.
I’d say Barbancourt was a sort of ’semi-agricole’. Besides the use of some cane syrup, another difference is that it is distilled to a very high proof and then diluted. So far as I know this is rather difference to the Martinique rums.
When reading your interesting article on the Barbancourt it seems clear that they use some sugar cane syrup in their rums. Interesting way they have to produce their rum and the final product is indeed a fine rum,i`m glad they have gone back to use the copper still.
Tiare, as you may know, my position on “rhum agricole” has been well published. The conclusions of this article was simply that “Rhum Agricole AOC Martinique” (1996) is a subset of the general term of “rhum agricole” - which has been used for over 150 years and simply means “cane juice rum” (which should be the preferred term). Author Ian Williams agrees.
I have spoken personally with Barbancourt on a number of occasions and I can assure you that their fine product is absolutely a pure cane juice rhum agricole (although they prefer not to use that term as they still resent Napolean’s attempt to ruin their economy).
The notion that Barbancourt is made with anything other than cane juice is based on the unverified opinion. Indeed the same resource notes that St. James (Martinique) does indeed make and keep a concentrated cane juice available for later distilling into “rhum agricole”. Go figure.
And no less than Mr. Hamilton at the MOR once admitted that by definition artisan cachaca from Brazil could equally qualify as cane juice rhum agricole.
The truth is that there are no real all-encompassing standards for any form of rum or cachaca.
Very interesting post indeed!
It is difficult to compare Rhum with Ron [to avoid to get confused with Rum, you simply can use the Spanish term. which comes down to Molasses rums] and Cachaça.
Ron is usually sold aged [even the white varieties] - you could discuss about it, but for me the Añejos are the rons, which are expressing the most the true nature of Ron / Rum.
Cachaça is sold aged and unaged. But usually it is short aged or unaged, which is displaying the main character. Further the traditional aged cachaça uses domestic rainforest wood, which has a completely different impact on the final product than oak. Due to the low distilling temperatures, Cachaça reminds me with its vegetal character more on Tequila, then on rum.
Rhum Agricole can be seen as two quite different products: white Rhum and aged Rhum. The white is usually sold at 50% abv - it bears green flavors [without being as green as Cachaça] - the perfect base for a Ti’Punch.
Aged Rhums I see more like Cognacs from the Caribbean. They often use Alembics to distill and also use other French methods for production. Last but not least, they are even using often the French age statement to present their Rhums.
I think, that you cannot really substitute a Martinique rhum with a golden rum - both products are hugely different [a gold rum, is usually mediocre - in between cheap white rums and precious añejos]. Rhum has a much spicier nature, hasn’t got so many vanilla and dried fruit notes.
At the end, what counts is, that we have 3 completely different categories, and every category has its own charm.
“At the end, what counts is, that we have 3 completely different categories, and every category has its own charm.”
You nailed it Dominik.
Rum Cachaca is not well understood, and your citation is incorrect.
Cachaca by any view is a cane juice rum, made from relatively fresh cane juice in Brazil. Although bottled at 38-48% abv, it is DISTILLED at 38-54%! Up to 6% sugar can be added.
There are literally thousands of cachacas made in Brazil, the cheaper are continuous stilled, the better in combinations of column and pot, or just pot.
What is especially attractive is the many different kinds of woods used to age the better cachacas.
Unfortunately in the U.S. any spirits made from cane juice or molasses must be called rum, although recently I have purchased cachaca that are labeled as such.
One exception is the new Seagram “Brazilian Rum” which is actually a very smooth and wonderful cachaca.
Oops… regarding my previous post I meant to say that 6mg (not 6%) of sugar may be added to cachaca.
Sorry…
Jimbo - long time no see..i shall fix the quotation, thanks!
Its interesting about these woods eh?
Cheers!
T