Velier Chelo Clairin Sajous 2012

Clairin is Haiti's village cane-juice rum, agricole in spirit but unable to use the word, made from heirloom cane with wild, spontaneous fermentation that drives intense, funky esters. This Sajous-style release from the Chelo distillery is bottled by Velier, the Genoa house that brought clairin to a wider audience with its single-village, full-proof, additive-free bottlings.

Distilled on a pot still from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice and left unsweetened, this is raw, expressive rum where the cane speaks loudly, all fresh sugar-cane sap and the spontaneous-ferment character that makes clairin so distinctive. At 48.1% it carries the proof and intensity that the style demands, a world away from soft, sweet sipping rum. This is terroir in a bottle, an honest and vivid Haitian white for drinkers chasing funk, freshness and the unvarnished taste of cane.