Ferroni La Dame Jeanne 18 (Rhum Corsica)

La Dame Jeanne 18 is another in Maison Ferroni's series of cask strength, unsweetened whites, this one a fresh, savoury pot still spirit. It sits at the leaner, more austere end of the funky white spectrum, a bottling for drinkers who prize minerality and brine over sweetness.

Pot distilled and bottled unaged at 57%, it opens with a light nose of brine, fresh florals and olive, before a palate that turns sharp, intense and distinctly metallic, with a mineral backbone running throughout. The finish is peppery and spicy with a fruit schnapps lift. This is a bracing, savoury style with little of the sweetness some of its siblings show, demanding and vegetal rather than soft. It will reward those who enjoy the saline, mineral side of cane spirit, best approached carefully neat or used to add a savoury edge to a serious cocktail.