Ampov Distillery Premium White Craft Rum 2023

Ampov is a Cambodian distillery, and this white rum is a cane-juice spirit, distilled on a pot still from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice rather than molasses. Agricole-style in everything but geography, it is an early bottling from a young producer and lands as a confident, characterful debut in the funky dry-white mould.

The nose is fresh, citrus-led and vegetal with a litchi lift, while the palate turns more savoury and unusual, olive and licorice over sugarcane with a clear anise note. The finish stays cane-driven and a touch oily, with sap and lemon peel. Bottled dry at a punchy 55%, it has the vivid, green intensity that fans of agricole blancs and funky white rums look for, with plenty of cane and pleasing umami edges. It drinks well neat for the curious and makes a lively Ti' Punch, an Asian outlier worth seeking out for cane-juice enthusiasts.