Carrere Montebello Ambré

Carrere Montebello Ambre is a Guadeloupe agricole from the Carrere distillery, home of the Montebello label on Basse-Terre, distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice. This ambre tier is aged around two years in oak before bottling, sitting between a fresh blanc and a fully aged vieux under Guadeloupe's IGP.

Described as the sweetest of the Montebello range, it leans fruity and spicy on the nose with an alcoholic, vegetal edge, then turns vegetal, spicy and licorice-tinged on the palate, the same notes carrying through the finish. The short oak ageing softens the spirit but leaves it on the rustic, slightly unbalanced side, with the green agricole character still prominent. At 50% it is a forthright young aged agricole rather than a polished sipper, and its fruit-and-spice profile works as well stirred into a cocktail as it does neat for drinkers who like their cane rum unvarnished.