Clairin Vaval Sugarcane Juice Rum

Fritz Vaval makes this completely unique clairin in the village of Cavaillon, on the southern coast of Haiti. The distillery Arawaks was founded after the war by Fritz's father, and today they have 20 hectares of a variety of sugarcane called Madame Meuze, farmed without the use of any fertilizers or chemicals. Fermentation takes up to 5 days and is done using only indigenous yeast. Vaval uses a home-made pot still that is steam powered (using a repurposed locomotive engine) by burning bagasse, the leftover pulp once the cane is crushed. The Vaval clairin is, for me, the most singular of the three. The more typical grassy and green notes of sugarcane juice mingle more the more esoteric prescence of anise, cinnamon, lemongrass and citrus peel. Oskar Kostecki