Saint James Les Éphémères – N°5 2005

Saint James Les Ephemeres N°5 is a 2005 Martinique agricole from one of the island's largest and oldest houses, made under the AOC from fresh-pressed sugar cane juice and distilled on a creole column at low strength to keep the cane character in the spirit. It carries a 16 year age statement, well past the appellation's XO floor, with all of that maturation under Martinique's warm tropical climate.

This is serious, dry, oak-driven agricole. The nose is woody and fruity with spice and dried fruit, the palate brings pears, baked apple, dried fruit and vanilla over wood, and the finish stays spicy, dry and mentholated with a pear note. Bottled at cask strength and unsweetened, it is concentrated and structured, the grassy cane core now wrapped in polished oak and menthol depth. It rewards a few drops of water and patience in the glass. A demanding but rewarding pour for drinkers who enjoy oak-driven agricole or older single casks and want a drier, more mentholated edge.