Clément XO

Clement XO is an aged agricole from Habitation Clement on Martinique, the island that holds the world's only rum AOC. That matters here: the spirit is distilled from fresh-pressed sugar cane juice rather than molasses, run off a creole column at low strength to keep the cane character in, with no added sugar permitted under the appellation. As an XO it carries at least six years in oak.

Maturation in ex-bourbon oak pushes this toward the wood-driven end of agricole. The grassy, vegetal core of the cane persists but is wrapped in oak, vanilla and a cigar-box spice, with green apple, citrus and a fresh, minty lift on the nose and a dry, peppery, honeyed finish. At 42% it sits in approachable, refined territory rather than full-throttle blanc intensity, an easy way into unsweetened cane-juice rum for drinkers coming from oak-led, cognac-like styles. It works neat as an aperitif, in a Ti Punch, or alongside a cigar.