(Image Source: LMDW, Travel Tourism Blog)

There's a popular saying in rum - "rum has no rules". The adage goes that anywhere you can find sugarcane, you can make rum. Now, that's not totally true, but nowhere is that put more to the test than when it comes to the Spirit of Haiti, also known as Clairin.

Clairin is a cane-based spirit that has been handcrafted and enjoyed by locals in Haiti for centuries. It is popularly produced using backyard-harvested sugarcane in small plantations and accompany shacks, and can almost be characterised as moonshine. Yet, while it lacks any formal production methods - everyone has recipes passed down from generations about how best to make their own Clairin - it has been making big waves in the rum world for its intense yet complex flavors that embodies the local terroir.

A local Haitian harvesting sugarcane to make Clairin. (Image Source: AFAR Magazine)

Typically, Clairin is made using sugarcane syrup or juice and is fermented using the naturally occurring yeast on the harvested sugarcane. It is distilled in small batches using makeshift distillation equipment and interestingly, not for commercial purposes, rather they are often made for the locals' own consumption. It is usually consumed unaged as a white spirit but there are aged versions as well. It is typically vegetal and grassy in flavor but can demonstrate a swath of flavors including fruity lychees to briny olives. Most recently, the spirit has gained a massive spotlight and following since Velier begin distributing Clairins selected from five estates in Haiti.

(Image Source: La Maison & Velier) 

Read our feature on Haiti's Clairins accompanied by tasting notes for the Clairins selected by Velier here.

Off the back of the growing popularity of Clairins (which are incredible spirits to consume neat or to make a mean daiquiri), La Maison's new Antipodes selection which looks set to debut in 2023 is featuring several of these Haitian spirits that you might have missed out on.

1. Vieux Sajous 5 Year Old 2017, Caroni Cask

Haiti, Pure Cane Juice Rum, 52.1% ABV

This Clairin comes from the 30-hectare Chelo distillery in Saint-Michel de l'Attalaye, a township known for producing some of the highest quality Clairins, and is operated by Michel Sajous, and hence is named after the producer himself. Sajous uses the juice from Cristallin varietal sugarcane to produce his Clairins. 

This is the third edition of the Vieux Sajous, highlighting "an impressive power of a distillate transcended by ageing in casks previously used for Trinidad & Tobago's famous rum Caroni. Then, once it has reached its fulcrum, it allows a full expression of the marvellously exotic, floral, chocolate and powdery tones in its flavor palette.

This expression was bottled at 52.1% ABV and has an outturn of 4,700 bottles.

(Image Source: LMDW)

Official Tasting Notes

Colour

Bright gold.

Aroma

Fresh yet heady.

The magnificently oxidative first nose (roasted pineapple, stewed fruits) alternates between the impression of a sweet Jurançon wine and a Jura vin jaune. This apparent duality in reality hides a deep complicity between these two wine-growing appellations.

Allowed to breathe, the Sajous Clairin reclaims possession of its territory. Cane honey, cane sugar and fresh cane juice completely flood the aroma palette. A few empyreumatic notes then underscore the Caroni cask’s influence.

Taste

Unctuous, full-bodied.

With remarkable finesse, the attack reveals honeyed (acacia), floral (vetiver, geranium), gently spiced (cinnamon, nutmeg) and lemony flavours. The vegetal mid-palate (sugar cane, succulent) develops more vanilla and liquorice registers.

The end of the palate is equipped with a very pleasant chocolatey bitterness and is particularly mouth-watering and salty.

Finish

Long, silky.

The powdery start of the finish (cocoa, rice grain) is also exotic (banana, pineapple, persimmon). Lingering on, fragrances of iris butter reflect the end of the palate’s heady character.

On the retro-nasal olfaction, a fine layer of salted butter caramel coats the taste buds. The empty glass is nobly spicy (saffron, cardamom) and chocolatey.

2. Providence 3 Year Old, 2019

Haiti, Cane Syrup Rum, 52% ABV (from 23 casks)

Hailing from the Port-au-Prince distillery, named after the capital of Haiti, this is the first aged expression of the Providence range, which up till now has only released the unaged editions of First Drops and Dunder & Syrup.

Matured in ex-Caroni rum casks, a small batch of 23 casks were selected for this expression, "revealing cane juice aromas and flavors that highlight the quality of a crystal-clear distillate. The aroma and flavor palette then continually becomes more mature, as highlighted by the oriental and praline character of the finish."

This expression was bottled at 52% ABV from a small batch of 23 casks, to produce a limited run of 6,000 bottles.

(Image Source: LMDW)

Official Tasting Notes

Colour

Golden yellow.

Aroma

Rich, concentrated.

The medicinal (ointment), camphoric, powdery (rice), floral (broom, mimosa), syrupy (cane sugar) and vanilla first nose is incredibly complex.

Allowed to breathe, subtle fragrances of wild geranium, lime blossom and flambéed banana bring even more nobility to the aroma palette. Very expressive, with time it brings to mind a field of sugarcane.

Taste

Lively, distinguished.

Picking up the tasting where the nose left off, the attack releases absolutely delicious fresh cane juice onto the palate. Lemon, vanilla and resinous flavours liven up yet also soften the mid-palate.

The exotic end of the palate (roasted pineapple, flambéed banana) is also spicy (ginger, cinnamon) and vegetal (sugar cane).

Finish

Long, silky.

With a very delicate texture, the start of the finish pours rose petals onto the palate. The oriental end of the finish (Turkish delight) develops a more bakery-like register (tarte tropézienne).

The refined retro-nasal olfaction is at once praline, finely woody, vanilla, vegetal (tobacco) and roasted (coffee). The empty glass returns in force to the medicinal notes of the first nose.

3. Papalin 4 Year Old

Haiti, Blended Rum, 53.1% ABV (from 35 casks)

The Papalin range has been employed by Velier to showcase a more nuanced side of the rums produced by distilleries that the famed Italian distributor works with, in the form of blends. 

The new Papalin 4 Year Old looks to shine a spotlight on a blend of different Clairins distilled in 2017 (from the Vaval, Sajous, Casimir and Le Rocher expressions) and cane syrup rum from the Distillerie de Port-au-Prince (2018), the vatted blend of which was subsequently aged in Caroni and Mount Gay rum barrels, bourbon casks from America's Buffalo Trace and also cognac casks.

"While it does venture blithely outside its natural borders, this rum really emphasises its deeply Haitian character. Evoking in turn a sweet wine, a fruit brandy and a Scottish single malt, Papalin Haiti returns from its long-haul travels, its suitcases filled with flavour and aroma treasures that enrich its palette."

The original vatted 4 Year Old rum produced solely using pot stills was then bottled at 53.1% ABV from a small batch of 35 casks, yielding 6,000 bottles.

(Image Source: LMDW)

Official Tasting Notes

Colour

Burnished gold.

Aroma

Full, heady.

Like a great sweet wine, the first nose is fruity (pineapple), herbaceous (cut hay) and vanilla. Allowed to breathe, the aroma palette becomes more spicy (pepper, clove) and hot (paprika, Cayenne pepper).

Gradually, fragrances of iris and empyreumatic notes of hot rubber pair together marvellously and flood every inch of the air. Accentuating the original character of this aroma sequence, dandelion scents appear.

Taste

Concentrated, rich.

On the attack, warm cane sugar spreads across the palate. Its vanilla, floral (tuberose) and praline dimensions take us to a mid-palate that has more than a little in common with the elegant bitterness of a Speyside whisky.

After this malty interlude, the end of the palate becomes divinely syrupy (geranium and acacia honeys), finely liquorice and vegetal (pipe tobacco).

Finish

Long, rich.

The unctuously vanilla start of the finish is characterised by notes of rice pudding and flan. The slightly camphoric end of the finish has clearly moved closer to the world of white alcohols (pear, Mirabelle plum).

The retro-nasal olfaction places freshly cut sugar cane on the tongue. The empty glass is medicinal (elastoplast) and spicy (ginger, cinnamon).

Kanpai!

@111hotpot