Velier Chelo Vieux Sajous (LMDW) 2018

This Vieux Sajous is an aged clairin from Michel Sajous in Saint-Michel-de-l'Attalaye, Haiti, selected by Velier for La Maison du Whisky. Sajous is the most celebrated of Haiti's small clairin producers, working with heirloom cane, wild fermentation and a pot still and adding nothing to the spirit. Where most clairin is bottled unaged, this 2018 has spent five years in ex-bourbon oak, a hybrid that keeps the wild cane funk and frames it with wood.

Bottled unsweetened at a full 57.5%, it bridges two worlds. The nose is all esters, sugarcane, tropical fruit and a floral lift, while the palate brings ripe tropical fruit, ester funk, caramel and a pastry-like sweetness from the cask, with a spicy, peppery edge and a woody, faintly medicinal finish. The barrel adds vanilla without burying the clairin underneath. A rewarding pour for drinkers who love high-ester Jamaica or raw Sajous but want some oak in the mix, best sipped slowly at full strength.