Hardy Saint James Paille

Saint James, distilling Martinique agricole since 1765, is the source of this Paille bottled under the Hardy name. Made from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice on a column still and given around eighteen months in ex-bourbon, it sits in the lightly aged paille register, between a fresh blanc and a full vieux, with the cane still very much to the fore.

Released at 45% with no added sugar, it noses on sugar cane, coconut, gingerbread and wood, then drinks with cane, wood, gingerbread and oak before a finish of grass, walnut and sugar cane. The brief barrel time lends coconut and a gentle baking-spice warmth while keeping the grassy agricole core intact and dry, a halfway house that bridges fresh and aged styles. It works neat as an easy, lightly woody sipper and slots naturally into a more rounded Ti' Punch for drinkers who want a touch of oak with their cane.