Velier Chelo Clairin Ansyen Sajous (Bielle Cask) 2017

Velier Chelo Clairin Ansyen Sajous is an aged Haitian cane juice rum, distilled at the Sajous operation and matured in a cask from Bielle on Marie Galante before bottling by Velier. Clairin is Haiti's village rum, made from fresh cane juice with wild fermentation, and an ansyen, or aged, expression is a chance to see that raw spirit settle in oak.

This single cask was pot distilled and matured a little over three years in ex bourbon oak, with the Bielle cask lending a Guadeloupe agricole inflection. The nose offers raisin, tobacco, roasted notes and sugarcane, the palate woody and fruity with tobacco, and the finish stays on tobacco, wood and a musty, fermented lift. At 54.6 percent it is intense yet rounded, the Sajous funk reined in to something balanced and full of personality, a reference point for what careful ageing can add to a clairin.