Velier Chelo Clairin Vieux Sajous – First Release 2016

This is Velier's debut bottling of an aged Sajous, part of the Genoa house's celebrated work documenting Haiti's clairin tradition. Clairin is the island's village cane juice rum, made from fresh juice and fermented wild with native yeasts, agricole in spirit even though the word cannot legally be used here. Sajous is one of the named single origin clairins Velier brought to wider attention, and this four year version takes that raw white spirit into oak.

Distilled on a pot still and matured in Ex-Bourbon casks, it keeps the turbo charged funk of clairin while wood adds spice, mineral grip and dry structure. The nose mixes tropical fruit and vanilla with a medicinal, almost pastry edge, and the palate turns spicy and woody with peppery young oak on the finish. It can be pungent straight from the bottle, so it rewards time in the glass. For anyone who enjoys agricole or other clairins and wants more oak and dry character, it is a rewarding step up.