I had previously reviewed the whole range of single estate Clairins from Velier. A key feature of Clairins - and in my opinion, still the best way to enjoy them - is that they were originally bottled unaged. White lightning as folks would call it.

We're now back with the Sajous - this time, aged. And not just in any cask, in original ex-Caroni casks, the legendary heavy Trinidadian rum from the now shuttered distillery.

And perhaps when this was selected for aging the Clairins, only the final flavor was considered and the Caroni profile had seemed to plausibly lend the best helping hand. Or perhaps there were just emptied Caroni casks around and Velier had not wanted it to go to waste. But maybe, just maybe, there's a slight bit of marketing magic afoot. Could be all three. And even so, it's all fair game.

The fabled Caroni Distillery. (Image Source: TWE)

No matter how much you could wax lyrical about being all about the quality of the product, a product's ultimate fate is to be purchased and consumed - and in that resides fair game for sincere marketing efforts. So long as it is transparent, why should anybody have anything to say about it.

And further to that point, who is to say ex-Caroni casks won't make good aged Clairin. And even if that were the case, is it not an experiment worth attempting? There're not that many (there's one left at the moment) Trinidadian distilleries around the past couple of decades. If one did desire to try melding a Trinidadian touch, there're just not all that many choices.

So in my humble opinion, I've completely no issue about it.

Nonetheless I felt it worthy to explore the potential talking points that might've arised from that very excitable word used on the label.

In any case, let's recap what we know about the Clairin Sajous.

(Image Source: LMDW)

Part of the original trio, Clairin Sajous is named after its maker Michel Sajous, who produces the Clairin out of his small 30-hectare distillery, Chelo, in Saint-Michel de l’Attalaye, north of Port-au-Prince. St Michel is known for producing some of the highest quality Clairin in Haiti where they more uniquely use sugarcane syrup to make the white spirit. Something even more unique about Michel Sajous’ Clairin is that despite his town’s reputation, he opts to use sugarcane juice instead of syrup. 

This vintage uses the Cristalline varietal of sugar cane, which was fermented over 7-10 days using wild yeast and double distilled using a pot still. The spirit is bottled straight from the still with no aging or tinkering whatsoever.

Now, this was all about the unaged stuff.

For this expression today, we have a 5 year old aged expression from Sajous, distilled in 2017, and then aged in of course, the ex-Caroni casks for all of those half a decade.

Velier Vieux Sajous 2017, 5 Year Old, Aged in Ex-Caroni Casks, Saint Michel de l'Attalaye, 52.14% ABV - Review

Tasting Notes 

Color: Amber

Aroma: Off the bat, there's a mellow yet pungent diesel aroma - comparably darker than the unaged Sajous. And then more on tinned and dried pineapples - sweet and also concentrated. Little bit more on a sweet but herbal manuka honey or ivy leaf cough syrup. It strikes as almost like a sweet dessert wine, perhaps a Sauterne. Over time it settles down and delivers more on fruit jams - apricot, with alittle bit of passionfruit, as well as more grassiness. 

Taste: Quite a bit more viscous and meatier than the unaged version - which is to be expected, quite oily in fact. Olive oil, melted butter, and then more on banana bread, as well as tinned pineapples, with more on melted brown sugar, caramel, chocolate sauce, cinnamon and nutmeg. There's just a touch of angelica root as well that gives it a sort of herbaceous medicinal bitterness. Lightly floral - white flowers.

Finish: Pretty long, the angelica root becomes more pronounced her in that medicinal bitterness - think herb roots. As it recedes the manuka honey fades, leaving a more aromatic bit of white florals.

My Thoughts

It's kinda mentally difficult to separate what you know about Clairins because your first encounter is just so distinctive - but here this is so much more mellow, deeper and darker - I find myself wondering if this is Clairin at all. Of course, the aging process rounds it out so much and tempers it down - as it does all rums, so that's not particularly surprising, but I suppose considering what we know and love about unaged Clairin, that typical gap is just made so starkly apparent here.

But let's try to evaluate it on its own, whether we find it tasty or not - and the verdict is pretty clear, it is really enjoyable. It has great rich aromas, a hefty body with strong rounded flavors but none of the sharpness, and a generally pretty likeable flavor profile on the whole. The finish is also stellar given how seamless it was and of course nice, easy, aromatic flavors.

I'm sure some might be wondering about that ex-Caroni cask, is it apparent? To that end, I find it pretty hard to say. Obviously this is nothing like Caroni apart from perhaps the diesel note that kicks things off. Could the same flavor profile be achieved with another rum distillery's cask? I've no clue either, because whether or not it's the work of the ex-Caroni cask, it certainly has imbued in this alot more depth and darker notes. Then again, could anything be brighter and punchier than unaged Clairins?

So unfortunately, I don't have a satisfying answer here - though I will say this was very enjoyable and obviously distinctively different from your usual dirty Caroni profile.

This is available via La Maison du Whisky (Singapore) and (France), as well as Excellence Rhum (Europe, Ships Internationally)

Kanpai!

@111hotpot