Rum MHOBA French Cask Aged
MHOBA French Cask Aged is part of the “select” line; as the name suggests, it is a series of selected rums. The rum is produced from fermented sugar cane juice aged for two years in French oak barrels. The barrels come from the Cape Winery, one of the most famous and well-known wineries in South Africa. However, the distillery restructures and re-toasts all the barrels before filling them with their rums.
The Tasting
This run has a colour that recalls acacia honey; the scent of French oak intertwines with herbaceous notes and hints of honey. It is well balanced on the palate with pleasant flavours of tropical fruit and hints of sugar cane. The powerful and persistent finish recalls spicy red fruit
It is a shame to use this rum to create cocktails; we recommend tasting MHOBA Pot Stilled High Ester neat with ice combined with dark chocolate.
The Mhoba Rum Distillery and its history
We are in South Africa; the distillery takes its name “Mhoba” (which in the local dialect means sugar cane) from the Greaves family estate, who have been growing sugar cane since the 80s.
We are close to the Makhonwja mountains, near Malalane, the most important sugar cane production area in South Africa. The idea of a distilling run came to Robert, the owner’s son; after studying mechanical engineering and gaining experience abroad, he returned home and tried to develop a dream.
As a mechanical engineer, Robert built himself everything necessary (even the stills); in 2013, he produced his first rum. In 2015, he obtained the license to run on a commercial scale, and we can say the distillery’s climb to success began.
Interestingly, MHOBA produces pure Agricole-style single-origin rum from sugar cane juice and not molasses like other distilleries do, but using only organic sugar cane grown on the estate.
Robert describes his rum as pure and unique, and it can be compared to a single malt whisky. Mhoba Rum is handcrafted in a still without adding colourings, flavourings or sugar.