Rhum Chantal Comte ReimonenQ L’Or des Caraïbes (Elevé sous bois) 2023

Rhum Chantal Comte, a respected French selector with a long agricole pedigree, chose this ReimonenQ for its L'Or des Caraibes release. ReimonenQ is a traditional Guadeloupe distillery, and as an IGP bottling this sits outside the Martinique AOC tiers, though the eleve sous bois label points to time spent ageing in wood. Distilled from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice, it keeps the grassy agricole core even at high strength.

Bottled at a serious 65%, with sweetening not disclosed, it shows woody, grassy and floral aromas lifted by orange. The palate is fresh and woody with a roasted, citrus edge, and the finish stays warm, elegant and citrus-led. ReimonenQ's characteristically oily, slightly fat texture does real work here, balancing the alcohol so the proof reads as intensity rather than heat. A drop of water opens the florals, making it a rewarding sipper for those who like their cane spirit powerful and dry.