Carrere Montebello LA RENCONTRE (Chassagne Montrachet) 2010

This La Rencontre is Montebello at its most experimental, an eleven-year Guadeloupe agricole from the Carrere distillery, distilled on a column still from fresh sugar-cane juice and finished in casks that once held Chassagne-Montrachet white burgundy. It is bottled at 47.1%, the wine wood reshaping the cane spirit into something layered and elegant.

The nose carries cherry wood, raisin, hay and a nutty depth; the palate turns to dark chocolate, wine and caramel with a grappa-like spiciness that recalls old Amarone-cask spirit; the finish brings orange marmalade and more cocoa over a sour, astringent edge. The fine-wine influence is clearly the point, adding fruit and chocolate richness to Montebello's dry agricole backbone without tipping into sweetness. This is a contemplative sipper driven by wood and wine, best enjoyed neat by drinkers who appreciate where rum meets the cellar.