Juuls Vin & Spritis Bielle 2001

This single cask captures Bielle of Marie Galante at fourteen years old, bottled by the Danish shop Juuls Vin and Spritis from the 2001 vintage. Pressed from fresh sugar cane juice on a column still and matured in ex bourbon oak, it is a long aged Guadeloupe IGP agricole released in small numbers, the kind of quietly excellent shop bottling that rewards the people who tracked it down.

Fourteen years have pulled the spirit firmly toward dried fruit. The nose layers prunes, raisin and vanilla over a light wood, and the palate is rich with dried figs, dried dates and more raisin against an oaky frame. The finish stays warm and woody with vanilla carrying through. The cask sits in fine balance with the fruit, the wood present but never dominant. A mature, contemplative agricole that shows what extended ageing does to a Marie Galante cane juice rum.