Paranubes Caña Morada Aguardiente

Paranubes is a brand of Rum produced in the cloud forest of the Sierra Mazateca Mountains in northern Oaxaca, Mexico. Jose Luis Carrrera farms tropical fruits, coffee, and 4 different types of sugar cane on his 14 hectares of land: Caña Dulce, Caña Morada/Negra, Caña Dura, and Caña Amarilla/Criolla. His cane is grown organically and harvested by hand, crushed in a mechanical press and only lightly filtered to remove the pulp. The cane juice is spontaneously fermented with ambient yeasts and a small amount of mesquite wood bark which contains enzymes that help to spur the fermentation process. After a 48 hour fermentation, he distills the "tepache" in a 6 plate column still that is fired with spent cane fibers. He distills to proof which is usually around 54%, without adding any water. The resulting spirit is bottled without additives or chill filtration. 

We've long enjoyed his regular bottling which is usually a blend of the 4 different cane types that he grows. This is a single cane varietal bottling of Caña Morada and it's something else entirely. The nose is all vegetal cane juice rum funk with a suggestion of tropical fruit. On the palate it is both savory and sweet. Olive brine, vegetal sweetness, and a lengthy finish with both herbaceousness and tropical fruit sweetness. A delicious, thought-provoking, sustainably produced spirit of exceptional quality.