Velier Casimir Clairin Casimir Friends 2015

Velier, the Genoa house behind the most collectible names in rum, has done more than anyone to champion Haitian clairin, and this Casimir Friends bottling is a charitable single-cask release. Clairin is Haiti's village cane-juice spirit, made from fresh sugar-cane juice with wild, spontaneous fermentation, agricole in spirit but unable to use the word.

Aged five years in ex-bourbon wood, this Casimir is gentler and more fruit-forward than the raw clairin stereotype: candied fruit, ripe strawberry, coconut and marshmallow, with the whisky-cask influence sitting lightly over a faintly vegetal base. Unsweetened and bottled at 48%, it stays approachable rather than wild, the funk dialled back in favour of berry-candy charm. An unusually easygoing, original clairin that rewards attention without demanding a hardened palate.