La Favorite Rivière Bel‘Air Récolte 2018

La Favorite is one of Martinique's last family run distilleries, and this Rivière Bel'Air from the 2018 harvest is a white agricole bottled under the island's AOC, which forbids any added sugar. At 53% it is a serious, intensely dry blanc, the kind that may be too uncompromising for some but delights drinkers who love pure cane character.

Distilled on a column run low to keep the green cane congeners, then rested rather than aged, it stays bright and snappy. The nose runs floral, fresh sugar cane, vegetal notes and pineapple, the palate keeps the cane front and centre with freshness, white pepper and citrus, and the finish turns dry and earthy with sugar cane and a candied edge. Made with red cane, it carries a raw, slightly wild, bitter streak that tasters single out, and it is at its best stretched into a ti' punch.