Karukera L’Intense 2016

Karukera, relaunched in 2002, is a Guadeloupe distillery with a name for single-cane bottlings, and L'Intense is its high-proof blanc, a 2016 release pressed from fresh cane juice and bottled at a powerful 63.8%. Unaged and full of cane character, it is built for drinkers who like their agricole whites loud.

Distilled on a column kept low to preserve the grassy, vegetal congeners, it leads with fresh sugarcane and citrus on the nose, then an intense, vegetal palate, with lime, cane and a mineral edge running through a warm finish. The strength is integral rather than harsh, giving an authentic, terroir-led white with real snap. At this proof it shines in a ti' punch or stirred into cocktails, where the cane and citrus carry the drink.