Velier Neisson Cuvée Chai 5 Adrien 2016

The Cuvee Chai 5 Adrien is a Neisson agricole selected by Velier, pairing the small family distillery's well-earned reputation with the Genoese bottler's purist instincts. Distilled from fresh sugarcane juice and matured in ex-bourbon oak for four years, this 2016 carries Martinique AOC weight and arrives at a punchy 55.8%, single cask and unsweetened.

Neisson's creole column keeps the cane congeners intact, so the nose opens on honey, coconut, hay and herbs rather than sweetness. The palate turns woody and floral with a nutty, citric streak, fresh cane tension running underneath the whole way. It finishes on spice, citrus, sugarcane and tobacco, dry and spice-forward in the way good aged agricole tends to be. At this strength a few drops of water open the florals, though it holds together neat for a drinker who likes some power.