HSE Cuvée Titouan Lamazou – Édition 50° Batch 3 2021

Distilled at Distillerie du Simon for HSE in Martinique, this is the Cuvée Titouan Lamazou bottled in the Édition 50 line, a white AOC agricole released at 50%. HSE is best known for its cask finishes and vintages, but its blanc shows the house cane character in its rawest, freshest form.

Pressed from fresh sugarcane juice and distilled on a creole column kept deliberately low to preserve the vegetal congeners, it is left unaged so the cane speaks plainly. Expect fresh sugarcane sap, citrus and a floral top note, with green olive, a saline mineral streak and a dry, peppery finish. There is a slightly wine-like roundness that keeps it from feeling austere. Unsweetened and bracing, it is at its best in a Ti' Punch or stirred into bright cocktails, where the grassy snap cuts cleanly through lime and sugar.