CLAIRIN RUM - Vaval white rum - 2022 harvest - 53.3%
Clairins are the rums of Haiti , where there are 532 small artisanal distilleries scattered across the only Caribbean island that rebelled against slavery in 1804. Today, Haiti is one of the few countries to retain purist traditions ; with its native varieties of non-hybridized sugar cane, its cultivation without chemicals, its spontaneous fermentation without yeast and its archaic unfiltered distillation.
Sugarcane is grown in plantation with other plant species such as banana and mango and is left without intervention until harvest, which takes place 18 months after planting. The harvest is done by hand, cut with a cutlass (cane knife) and transport to the distillery is done with carts pulled by oxen. During harvesting, the cut canes are transported by hand to the mill. There they are inserted between the rollers and pressed. The juice flows into a stone container and while another worker collects the juices on the other side of the mill, a human chain carries the pressed canes to a drying area. According to the rules to obtain the “Triple A” designation, the protocol must be as follows: fermentation lasts at least 120 hours and distillation takes place in a maximum of 5 stills with copper plates in direct contact with the flame. Then, the rum must be bottled as soon as it comes out of the still and the bottling takes place in Haiti.
This Clairin Vaval was produced at the Arrawaks distillery based in Cavaillon.