Trois Frères Distillery Takamaka Le Clos Series Napa Laz 2024

Trois Freres Distillery Takamaka Le Clos Series Napa Laz 2024 is an unaged cane-juice rum from Takamaka on Mahe in the Seychelles, distilled by the Trois Freres distillery from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice. The Le Clos series focuses on single-estate Seychellois cane, and as an Indian Ocean producer Takamaka makes agricole-style rum without the right to the protected French term.

Unusually for an agricole white, this comes off a pot still, which gives it a fuller, oilier body than a creole-column blanc. The nose is all juicy sugar-cane, mineral, almond and olive with a nutty edge and hints of banana and papaya. The palate is fat and pastry-like, with marzipan, sweet almond and green olive, and the finish stays olive-driven, citrussy and mineral. Bottled unsweetened at cask strength, 53.4%, this is a clean but characterful white that shows how far the agricole template travels beyond the Caribbean, fine neat or in a tropical Ti Punch.