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by creating KOKOLEKA - Cacao and Honey Rum , which starts as white agricole before being infused with local cacao nibs and honey . Their spirits are distributed throughout Hawaii , with shipments to Southern California on the horizon .
Back in Baton Rouge , Walter Tharp took a page from the Guatemalan tradition of owning and operating a distillery in conjunction with a family owned sugar mill . His family has owned Alma Plantation and Sugar Mill for generations ; growing , harvesting and milling sugarcane from the deep alluvial topsoil of the Louisiana Delta . In 2013 , he founded Cane Land Distilling Co . to connect the rich tradition of sugar to the emerging world of independent craft distilling . Jonny VerPlanck , who had owned Rocheport Distilling Company in Boone County , Missouri , answered Tharp ’ s bat signal looking for a “ rum guy ” and joined the project as head distiller . The rums VerPlanck distilled in Missouri were inspired by his time living in Belize , but were built on Louisiana sugarcane . This opportunity fulfilled his desire to “ get closer to the cane .”
Once at Cane Land , VerPlanck had access to all the sugar products the Alma Mill had to offer , and besides pursuing agricole , they looked to make an all-molasses rum , all aquifed-sugarcane vodka , and rum from pure , honey-colored cane syrup .
Cane Land was up and running just in time to receive a single delivery of fresh cane juice at the tail end of the 2016 sugarcane harvest . The fresh cane juice was delivered within ninety minutes of being pressed and was immediately transferred to fermentation tanks and fermented with Guadalupan-born yeast . Cane Land ’ s inaugural distillation run on their 550-gallon Vendome pot still turned this fermented cane wine into agricole , which is currently aging in barrels .
During the 2017 harvest , they received 800 - 1,600 gallons a day of freshly pressed cane juice , which was fermented and distilled into what VerPlanck estimates will be roughly 20,000 ( 750 ml ) bottles of Louisiana agricole . A portion of that yield was bottled unaged at 90 proof , as Cane Land Rhum Agricole ; now available at their distillery and throughout the state of Louisiana , with distribution to several more states expected soon . The remaining agricole was conditioned in 100-year-old 4,000-gallon cognac vats , prior to being barrel aged in cognac and whiskey barrels for future release .
VerPlanck and the team at Cane Land are most excited about the flavor and new opportunities for consumers . “ You really taste the sugarcane , you taste the terroir , and you taste the soil of Louisiana in there . People are getting into mezcals and are leaning towards the style of sprits that aren ’ t stripped down . People like corn whiskey you can taste the corn in . Rum is a unique spirit , but people don ’ t really get a chance to taste the raw rum . [ Many white rums are ] kind of a disconnect from the original sugar source .