Domaine de Bel Air Carrere Marie Louise Double Cask Matured 2022

This single barrel comes from the Carrere distillery on Guadeloupe under the Marie Louise label, bottled by Domaine de Bel Air from the 2022 vintage. Pressed from fresh sugar cane juice and double cask matured in ex bourbon and new French oak, it is just under four years old yet arrives at a formidable cask strength of 60.8%, the kind of young, high proof agricole that wears its wood boldly.

The new French oak makes itself known, lending a woody, almost bitter intensity and plenty of spice to the young spirit. Sugar cane and fruity, floral notes sit beneath cinnamon, candied fruit and assertive oak, with caramel on a long, spicy finish. The alcohol is well integrated and the texture creamy, and a drop of water coaxes more cane back to the surface. Powerful and cask driven, this is one for drinkers who like their agricole young, strong and unapologetically woody.