Spirit of the day #4 Marie Galante 2022

Bottled by Spirit of the day, this 2022 single cask comes from Marie Galante, the small Guadeloupe island whose blancs are prized for their wild, cane-forward character. It is distilled from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice rather than molasses, the hallmark of the agricole family, and left unaged so the raw spirit speaks for itself at close to 60%.

The creole column runs the spirit off low to keep the grassy congeners intact, and the result is intensely vegetal: green cane, cut grass, marzipan and a stony, mineral edge that turns earthy on the finish. This is a young, undiluted brut de fut, so the alcohol runs hot and a splash of water or a Ti' Punch tames the burn and lets the cane sing. One for drinkers who already chase raw, high-proof island whites and want the cane turned all the way up.