Longueteau Blanc 55

Longueteau, founded in 1895 and the oldest family-owned Guadeloupe agricole distillery still operating, bottles this Blanc 55 as a high-strength white from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice. Unaged and sitting under the island's IGP, it is a straightforward expression of the estate's cane at a proof chosen to give it body and lift.

Released at 55% with sweetening undisclosed, it noses intense and floral with sugar cane and citrus, then drinks oily and intense with pepper and a berry note, finishing oily, bitter, flowery and cane-driven. That weighty, oily texture and peppery bite give it real presence, marking it as a vigorous agricole rather than a delicate one, the florals lifting an otherwise robust frame. It makes a strong Ti' Punch base where its intensity can carry the lime and sugar, and rewards neat sipping with a little water for drinkers who like their whites oily and forceful.