Réunion Island. Distillery operational.

Built on the Bois-Rouge site in Saint-André in August 1992, near the eponymous sugar refinery whose cane sugar and molasses it uses to produce its rums, Savanna is a distillery with “open walls” overlooking the Indian Ocean. From the historic site of Saint-Paul, the distillery has kept a magnificent copper Savalle still, which it uses together with several stainless steel column stills and a pot still to produce a multitude of rums, including its Grand Arôme, whose fermentation lasts almost 15 days. When it comes to both its rhum agricole (cane juice) and its traditional rum (molasses), Savanna is one of few distilleries in the world to offer such a wide palette of aromas, recently honoured by various independent bottlers in releases such as Velier's Savanna 1999 Villa Paradisetto.

A Savanna Reunion rum distilled in 2012 and bottled in 2019 by Velier after six years’’ ageing in French oak. Velier was founded in Genoa by Casimir Chaix in 1947. It was originally a small, family-run business specializing in the import and distribution of wine and spirits. Luca Gargano, a former representative for Saint James and serious rum collector and enthusiast, bought the business in 1986 and began bottling whisky first in 1992 and then rum in 1996. After his legendary bottlings of Demerara rum (Guyana) and Caroni (Trinidad), Gargano extended his exploration of Caribbean rum into other territories, including Barbados, Jamaica, Haiti and Marie-Galante. Rums selected by Velier are only ever aged in a tropical climate, which explains both their concentration and the high angels’’ share. They are generally bottled at cask strength or just below.