Savanna comes from the Reunion Island which is in the Indian Ocean. I wrote a previous review on Savanna here that covers the history bit as well.
Savanna produces rums from both molasses and sugarcane juice. This is a molasses based one although one could be easily confused regarding that. I don’t do many white rums here, not that I don’t like them, I just prefer the barrel influence (hence the name of the page), but I tried this one at the Nordic Rum Fest and I was just blown away – had to wait a couple of wages to get it but it’s finally in my hands.
Couldn’t find much about it online and the fact that all I know to say in French is “I don’t speak French!” didn’t help either, but the bottle has plenty of information and paired with Google Translate and what I remember from the Nordic Rum Fest I managed to put together some facts.
Herr stands for High Ester Rum Reunion and the 57 I guess it’s from the ABV which is 57%. Apparently the Herr 57 was born from an experiment in 2005 to get a high ester aromatic rum. Their website says they add different strains of yeast and bacteria for the fermentations and while this was fermented for 11 days, I don’t think it was an open tank – if someone knows otherwise or has more info please contact me. The wash was distilled in an alembic pot still and then left to rest in stainless steel tanks for about 12 years – I think they didn’t know what to do with such a pungent rum since in 2005 it wasn’t in huge demand. Only 2300 bottles with 423,4g/hlap of esters, 57% ABV and no additives… what else?
On the nose it’s uber-fruity. I can smell it from a couple of meters away – strawberries, like tons of strawberries. Raspberries, candied bananas, sweet pineapple juice, overripe apples, lemon sweets. A pungent brasso aroma at the back of the fruits but enough to slap your nose a bit. Candle wax, a bit of menthol, the wood polish I use at work(??). I think that’s quite descriptive, I’m diving in.
On the palate it’s super intense – minty, fruity and pungent. Fernet, cough syrup, artificial strawberry flavour, pineapple syrup, spearmint jelly. All of that mixed with olives and olive brine. It starts sweet in flavour but then the ABV dries your mouth towards the end. The finish is long, with raspberry jellies and peppermint liqueur.
Definitely one of its kind, very unique flavour profile – think strawberry flavoured water with some olives in it. If you like Clairins and Jamaican funk-bombs this is for you as well.
Savanna Herr 57 Rum score:
Flavour/taste: 62/70
Value for money: 15/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 92/100
Cheers!
Rum from my home island!