Thematic Savanna
A distillery that was still (too) confidential a few years ago, Savanna has come a long way to become a flagship brand and very popular with r(h)um enthusiasts. It even remains the only distillery in the world to produce both rhum agricole (based on pure sugar cane juice), traditional rum (based on molasses), Grand Arôme (high esters rum) and light rum. The Reunion distillery has thus been able to show with audacity and excellence that it is possible, from the same raw material, to obtain very diversified aromatic palettes by playing on unique production methods and know-how.
(the photographs are all signed Axel Ruhomaully and were provided by the distillery. Thanks to them)
If the Savanna distillery was commissioned at the end of the 1940s, its sugar heritage has more than two centuries of history and there is mention of a steaming distillery on the estate as early as 1870. to a certain Paul Charles Émile Hugot, a Reunionese businessman who managed several sugar factories on the island of Reunion, we owe the launch of the Savanna Distillery between 1948 and 1950; the production at the time was exclusively intended for the bulk sale of traditional rum (molasses) on the local market, on behalf of different brands (including Charette) and liquor stores (in the form of punch and various rum-based drinks) , as well as a part already intended for the metropolis, in particular for Bardinet.
At the time, the proportion of old rum was still very small and the first aging cellar, which dates from 1964, only contained around fifty barrels.
A thin stock intended for the production of three-year-old rums sold in bulk on the local market for bottler brands, but also more confidentially under the name Savanna, which is not yet a brand. An anecdotal and aging activity when Laurent Broc, former director, arrived at the distillery in the 1980s. It was the latter who succeeded at the last minute, in 1995, in transferring the cellar after the move from Saint-Paul to Bois-Rouge despite the reluctance of general management. A daring bet in a very different context from today, because if the culture of old rum on the island only started in the 2000s, Savanna hardly marketed it at the time and no one knew yet these products.
In 1982, it was the beginning of Grand Export activities for Savanna, which acquired an additional distillation workshop whose production would be exclusively intended for the manufacture of light rum for the exclusive account of Racke, a German client. Savanna then begins an unprecedented development phase (we are talking about 24/25,000 hectoliters of pure alcohol equivalent per year) and begins to develop its skills, in addition to diversifying its offering.
Following the phenomenon of concentration of production tools on sugar refineries which affected the island in the second half of the 20th century, almost all of the installations closed, including that of Savanna in 1986. The distillery part moved in 1992 near the Sucrerie from Bois Rouge to Saint-André. A strategic and thoughtful merger for Savanna, but also vital since the distillery does not have a grinding tool and obtains its raw materials directly from the annexed sugar factory. It will also take advantage of the move to rationalize its production tools: the German workshop (the fermentation and distillation part) is preserved, as well as the old Savalle column which until now had no production, but which Laurent Broc was keen to maintain. A superb copper column which will prove very useful in the development of their future ranges.
In 1994, the managers set up a Research & Development department to exploit all the know-how accumulated until then: the first research work on yeasts began a few years earlier (in 1990/1991), and already new microbiological and fermentative research will soon open new horizons and announce the promising beginnings of Grand Arôme rum.
Grand Arôme (High Esters) rum: Great concentration, Great change
Symptomatic of this desire to surpass themselves and share their know-how, the first tests of Grand Arôme date back to 1998. Traditional molasses rum with very long fermentation (5 to 10 days), its production is not controlled only by very rare players in the world, and its use is still limited to pastry; the distillery made the bold choice to offer it to the public without embellishment, in order to show all its aromatic potential.
The Savanna team will go so far as to visit some pioneering distilleries in the field, particularly in Jamaica, and will compare its techniques with Wray & Nephew. Gone is the outdated image of cooking rum, Savanna is beginning to rehabilitate the genre and impose its trademark. The first productions are offered for sale in bottles (under the brand Varangue), before seeing the first 'bulk' customers follow, mainly for the food industry. The ancestor of Lontan rum is born, and already the distinction of a change in positioning is taking place.
ZOOM GRAND ARÔME (HIGH ESTERS RUM)
What exactly is a Grand Arôme?
It is a rum resulting from a very long fermentation (5 to 10 days or more) of a mixture of vinasse and molasses which, under the action of specific yeast, will promote the development of bacteria, and thus give the rum very developed and much more powerful aromas. A type of rum mainly used in the food industry, even in perfumery, or as an enhancer for certain lighter rums.
Savanna has been producing Grand Arôme banch rum since the end of the 1990s, even though the brand did not yet exist: The first productions are thus offered for sale (to the general public) in bottles under the Varangue brand, while the rest is mainly sold in bulk to the food industry. We would have to wait until the 2000s to see the arrival of the first aged Grand Arôme stamped Savanna (the name "Lontan" did not yet exist but quickly established itself on labels). It was Laurent Broc who launched production at Savanna with the strong idea of highlighting know-how and more advanced work in fermentation and distillation. Following the regulations, the Reunion distillery produces Grand Arôme while respecting the levels of 800g/PAH (hectoliter of pure alcohol) of non-alcohol including 500g/PAH in esters (Franco-French regulations). Rums that come out at 75% (just like the pure juice/agricole rums from Savanna, where the traditional rums come out at 89%).
We therefore distinguish the Grand Arôme sold in bulk, the Lontan rum (the Grand Arôme of the Savanna brand) and the latest, the HERR rum (literally High Esters Rum Réunion), released on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of LMDW (La Maison du Whisky). The latter is still different from Lontan: the basis of the fermentation may well be the same, the HERR benefits from a different and additional bacterial work which is intended to be closer to the characteristics of a Jamaican rum, with a greater aromatic richness than Lontan, particularly in esters (richer qualitatively and quantitatively). And while Lontan is distilled via the traditional Savalle column, HERR is distilled (preferably) discontinuously via a classic stainless steel still, allowing maximum extraction of the fermentation aromas as well as a time longer residence of the wine at high temperatures favoring the chemical reactions causing an atypical flavor.
1990 : The very first trials of Rhum Agricole
We owe the genesis of this new project to another German operator, who asked Savanna to supply natural organic sugar to supply its stores. This is how a micro-sugar activity is set up a few meters from the distillery, in place of the old sugar factory closed in 1986.
The workshop thus created and named “Sucre Naturel de Bourbon” gave Savanna the opportunity to obtain good quality cane juice and to begin testing in 1990. The production of the very first rhum agricole thus began on behalf of local operators.
An activity which remains very anecdotal for Savanna which mainly produces traidtional rum, but which still continues today (this is their “Créol” range), but this time with a pure juice which comes directly from the Sucrerie de Bois Rouge annexed to the distillery.
1995-2000 : An era under tension
The historical context of the time is very tense: between 1995 and 2000, powerful anti-alcohol lobbying undermined the entire rum industry on the island. Politicians, media and public opinion launched an unprecedented vendetta and targeted the rum industry as the main culprit for alcoholism, and more particularly the Charette brand, which already brought in the majority of Savanna's revenue.
A prefect at the time even went so far as to impose the administrative closure of the distillery, accusing the rum of having such a high level of methanol that it was driving people crazy... before changing his mind following analyses. Savanna and the entire profession responded to the attacks by releasing the first "rum white book", which recontextualizes the importance of rum on Reunion Island and explains the history in detail. Since then, Savanna has continued to show its difference and its know-how to the general public, seeking to constantly promote the image of Reunion rum, and its rums in particular. Until one day in May 2003, they finally launched their brand...
2003 : The rebirth of Savanna
While the distillery has been making rum for more than 60 years, with its mastery and desire for development and emancipation, it decided to officially launch its own brand, Savanna rums, on May 11, 2003. The distillery wants to go even further and produce a qualitative image mainly targeting rum lovers.
To do this, Savanna decided to voluntarily exclude itself from mass distribution to build its own brand image and work with very high-end products. The distillery then begins to participate in competitions and enters into a dynamic which will continue to intensify.
It even launched a transparency operation and educated its public by releasing an aging kit in 2005 in collaboration with one of its coopers: the idea is to show people how old rum is produced, by offering them the opportunity to age a white rum themselves in a miniature barrel. These are the beginnings of rum culture in Reunion and Savanna intends to put its experience to good use.
A shop (the kiosk) is even open to invite everyone to see behind the scenes, much less dark than that portrayed by the media until then.
