Savanna HERR 10 Year Old Single Cask
Savanna · Distillerie Savanna
A rum that literally tastes of Réunion's terroir: born on the flanks of Piton de la Fournaise, this high-ester HERR marque is one of the most singular expressions in world rum — mineral, molten, and unforgettable.
Nose
A volcanic gust of overripe banana, black olive brine, and struck flint gives way to petrol, damp leather, and burnt sugarcane. Deeper breaths reveal glacé pineapple, wet basalt, and a whisper of iodine — as if the island's lava fields had been sealed in glass.
Palate
Explosive and mineral-driven: molten toffee, roasted pineapple, and salted almonds ride a wave of high-ester funk. Mid-palate turns smoky with tobacco leaf, cocoa nib, and a distinct crushed-stone bitterness. Cask oak is present but never dominant, framing rather than taming the estery fire.
Finish
Long, warming, and unmistakably volcanic — dried mango, singed oak, and a saline mineral echo that lingers like sea spray on hot rock.
- Base Ingredient
- Sugarcane molasses (Réunion Island cane)
- Distillation
- Long fermentation with wild yeasts (2-3 weeks) followed by column still distillation; aged 10 years in ex-bourbon casks under tropical conditions
- Country
- Saint-André, Réunion Island, France
Cocktail Suggestion
Basalt & Ember — 1.5 oz Savanna HERR 10 Year, 0.5 oz Amaro Nonino, 0.25 oz demerara syrup, 2 dashes mole bitters, 1 dash saline solution. Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass over a large cube, express and discard grapefruit peel.
Food Pairing
Grilled octopus with smoked paprika, black olive tapenade, and charred lemon — the smoke and brine mirror the rum's volcanic mineral core.
Distilled at Savanna on Réunion Island in the shadow of one of Earth's most active volcanoes, the HERR (Haute Ester Rhum Réunion) marque is fermented for weeks with wild yeasts before being distilled and aged in the humid tropical air of the Indian Ocean.
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