Karukera L’Expression Brut de fut Édition n°2 2020

Karukera, relaunched in 2002, makes single-estate agricole on Guadeloupe under the island's IGP. This second edition of L'Expression is a brut de fut, bottled straight from the barrel at full strength after just a couple of years in wood, so the cane spirit arrives undiluted and unsoftened.

Distilled from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice in the agricole manner and matured in cognac casks, it takes a markedly wine-influenced turn for such a young rum. The nose offers wood, caramel, dried fruit and a clear cognac note, while the palate is firmly woody and tannic, dry and alcoholic at 61.8%, with banana and cocoa surfacing for those who give it air. The finish stays warm, dry and woody with dried fruit trailing off. Bold and chewy, it suits drinkers who want their young agricole loud and cask-driven.