It’s funny how we as Americans are so only knowledgeable about predominantly western spirits. We know about wine, whiskey, beer…but there’s a whole other unexplored spirit range ( at least for us western culture folks). Take for example baiju ( which is consumed more than any other spirit ), sake, or this…clairin. No, it’s not rum. It’s as far from rum as Scottish whisky is from bourbon. This was gifted by my niece, who just completed a semester of surgical training in Haiti. This is the expensive, meant for westerners, version of their local spirit that’s distilled by small back alley distillers. The local version is about $1.50/ bottle. But this is close to 50x of that…more meant for US. Apparently, in Haiti , the local version is considered as working class, and used traditionally for voodoo ceremonies. It’s distilled from sugar cane , but that’s where any similarity to rum ends. This is more grassy, herbal, and earthy. I don’t get any sweetness at all actually. Have this with a cube of ice on a hot day, and you’re treated with flavors of minerals, grassy earth, and refreshing lemons. Truly unique. I totally get it that I got the westernized white-washed version as the intro one, but it now makes me wonder what a local only would taste like. I can’t help but wonder the local only one would be like that local only mezcal I had in Oaxaca—- just flavors and complexity that’s not available from on-shelf-main stream mezcal. ( @Richard-ModernDrinking , @pkingmartin , @ctbeck11 ——I included this for the June tasting…courtesy from a 25 yr old surgical resident’s rotation in Haiti)