Kaniché Fiji Islands Double Wood: Does the Hype Live Up to the Hype?
Kaniché Fiji Islands Double Wood delivers a smooth sip with woody notes and a clean finish—but does it justify the $37 price tag?
New rums are not gracing the shelves of our local store as readily as we would like. Every month, the same sea of ornate bottles with white, golden, and dark rum tends to blend together. This month, however, a turquoise wooden box was smack dab in the middle of the aisle, calling us to try. Kaniché Fiji Islands Double Wood has the packaging down in spades. Now, let’s see if it’s worthy of those marketing dollars.
The Kaniché brand is produced by Maison Ferrand, of Cognac, France, renowned for their exceptional Pierre Ferrand Cognac and distinctive fine spirits. CEO Alexandre Gabriel began his adventure into the world of rum in 1990 when Maison Ferrand was nearly broke. To make extra money, Alexandre realized he could sell his seasoned Grande Champagne Cognac barrels to rum producers in the Caribbean at three times the price of ex-bourbon barrels. Alexandre became fascinated by how soil and climate created a diversity of rum taste. Soon, the Plantation Brand was born, sourcing bulk rums already distilled and aged in their tropical “birth country” and then sent to Maison Ferrand to age further in cognac barrels. The Kaniché brand has followed in Plantation’s footsteps.
Kaniché Fiji Islands Double Wood begins at the South Pacific Rum Distillery in Lautoka, the only rum distillery in Fiji. The rum is made using traditional Fijian methods, starting with hand-cut sugar cane grown in the island’s rich volcanic soil and pure filtered water from the island’s lush landscape. The cane creates rich, dark Fijian molasses then distilled in a combination of pot and column stills, stoked by a wood-burning stove. The rum is then aged for three years in small ex-bourbon oak barrels in Fiji’s tropical climate before being sent to Maison Ferrand to be finished for another year in French oak barrels.
Review
The light golden color hugs the glass leaving large droplets cascading down the side. The color, however, leads us to believe the rum is very young. An earthy note wafting from the glass reminds us of wet wood in the mangroves. Terry picks up a slight sweetness from semi-ripe pineapples. It’s more the outer husk of the pineapple with just a hint of pineapple. We agree that the initial sip is smooth and inviting with a really good mouthfeel, but it finishes with an alcohol burn. After swirling the rum a bit more to release the alcohol, our next sip continued to present the woody notes, followed by a warm and satisfying finish with hints of apricot and dried currant. There’s a little to explore with this young rum, but the smoothness of the liquid keeps bringing us back for more.
Overall
A manager at our local store highly recommended Kaniché Fiji Islands Double Wood. We agree that the rum drinks smoothly, but it lacks the nuances we typically enjoy in our sipping rums. The saving grace is the rum makes a great Old Fashioned. At $37/bottle, we expected a little bit more.
3.5 of 5
About Clint and Terry: We have sampled many a dram over our 33 years of marriage and quite often we don’t fully agree. Could be the difference is male/female taste buds. Or, somebody is just wrong.
Terry Boram has written for ALL AT SEA since 2012.
