Hans Reisetbauer is widely recognized as one of the worldòs great farmer-distillers, relentless in his pursuit of innovation and perfection since he began distilling in 1994. With his latest project, Austriaòs preeminent master of eau de vie has turned his vision to arguably the oldest spirit of all: rum. After 10 years of searching for the worldòs finest molasses, Hans chose a small Fair Trade-certified collective of sugar farmers in Mauritius. ûIt has a flavor like no ot- her molasses Iòve tasted," says Hans. ûItòs elegant, fine and flowery." Coupled with his unique and unparalleled Alpine spring water source, the molasses is fermented with precision temperature control, allowing four different yeasts to be used at different degrees. Using state-of-the-art custom pot stills and tasting for consistency throughout the process, Hans and his son distill twice, first for a whopping 12 day distillation and second for an eight-hour pass, cutting out nearly a third of the final distillate to leave only the purest heart of the run. Balanced in wine casks from Pichon-Longueville in Bordeaux, aged in Ysper oak, then finished in Bordeaux casks once more, the spirit is ultimately blended with Caribbean rums from Jamaica, Guyana, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Venezuela. "The biggest story for us," says Hans, "is the story of taste and flavor. And we have a taste and flavor – so many different flavors – that nobody else has. It’s a rum like an extremely high-quality wine. You open the bottle, you put it in the glass, you philosophize."