Habitation du Simon A1710 La Perle Brute 2020

Habitation du Simon A1710 La Perle Brute is a Martinique rhum agricole blanc, distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice rather than molasses and left unaged so the cane shows through undressed. A1710 works on the estate at Le Simon, and the house signature is a white rum that smells emphatically of fresh-cut cane, here with citrus, a vegetal green edge and a lift of tropical fruit.

The spirit comes off a copper column run low to keep the grassy congeners in the distillate, which is why a blanc like this reads so green and snappy. Bottled at full strength with nothing added, it lands hot and intense, mango and citrus over a peppery vegetal core that finishes long and dry. That bottling strength is a feature, not a flaw: cut it with water and ice in a Ti Punch and the cane sap opens right up.