La Favorite Exploration No. 3 2020

La Favorite's Exploration No. 3 is a young Martinique agricole from the family distillery near Fort-de-France, distilled from fresh sugarcane juice and aged around eighteen months in ex-bourbon oak. That maturation places it in the elevé sous bois tier, the early oak stage, and this 2020 is bottled at a punchy cask strength of 49.8%, unsweetened and a touch experimental in spirit.

The creole column keeps the vegetal cane congeners in front, so the nose is vegetal and grassy with citrus, pepper and sugarcane. The palate turns woody and spicy with cane and a vegetal thread, the finish carrying young tannins, a brioche note and dried fruit, with cherry blossom and a subtle smoke surfacing across the profile. It reads young and lively rather than polished, the fresh cane and floral wood the draw. Best neat or with a splash of water, for a drinker who already enjoys young agricole.