Habitation du Simon A1710 Cheval Bondieu #2 2020

A1710, made at the Habitation du Simon in Martinique, has a markedly individual house style, and this Cheval Bondieu is a cane-juice agricole made from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice. From the 2020 vintage and bottled unsweetened at cask strength, 51.5 percent, it sits outside the AOC framework while keeping the agricole character.

Distilled on a creole column kept low to hold the green cane congeners, it leans warm and wood-forward: honey, sugarcane and candied fruit on the nose, with vanilla, dark chocolate, coffee and red fruit over peppery spice on the palate. The finish returns to sugarcane, herbs and wood. There is a soft, pastry-like, honeyed quality that sets it apart from leaner Martinique whites and vieux. A characterful, expressive agricole with a clear identity of its own.