Sonson Pierre Gilles Clairin Sonson 2021

Sonson Pierre Gilles Clairin Sonson 2021 is a Haitian clairin, the village cousin of rhum agricole, distilled from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice on a small still and fermented spontaneously with wild yeasts. Haiti cannot use the word agricole, but clairin is agricole in spirit, prized for heirloom cane, single-village terroir and a raw, unfiltered intensity that aged molasses rum never shows.

This is a singular bottling that takes a moment to tame. The nose builds from aromatic herbs and earthy vegetation through tomato leaf and fresh cane into something more medicinal, iodised and mineral. The palate is firmly vegetal, earthy and dry, with grass, salt and a ginger bite on a herbaceous finish. There is no oak here and no added sugar to soften it, just the wild energy of spontaneous fermentation at 51%. Drinkers who enjoy the rustic Sajous style will find the same untamed character with its own earthy, mineral signature, ideal neat or in a robust Ti Punch.