La Favorite Rhum Coeur Ambre

The Lone Caner said not to rush past this one — for an agricole under two years old and forty bucks, its crisp liveliness is something of an achievement. La Favorite is one of the last family-owned distilleries in Martinique — founded in 1842 near Fort-de-France, run by the Dormoy family since 1905, still powered by a steam engine and two copper single-column stills, and distilling, aging, and bottling everything on site. Cœur Ambré is the estate's Cœur de Canne white given eighteen months to two years in used American whiskey and bourbon barrels, bottled at 45% ABV with nothing added under the AOC Martinique. Caribbean Spirits' notes: fresh sugarcane highlighted with white oak, carrying through a citrus-and-fruit body to rich tannin on the finish. The Lone Caner found the nose sharp but remarkably clear for something so young — herbs, citrus, a musty dryness, vanilla, cereal, rye bread, and gruyère — then a blast of pepper that evens out into sweet and salt, crushed almond and walnut, straw baskets, and fresh-cut lumber, with the honest verdict that it never pretends to be more than what it is and is, for what it is, not half bad. Expect the grassy cane character of the white softened by a touch of vanilla and oak into something golden and easy. Honest note: it's the entry-level amber built for cocktails, not the estate's aged vieux. For a Ti' Punch with a rounder edge, a Rhum Old Fashioned, or over one cube, it's the family's everyday gold.

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