Rhum Barbancourt Cane Blossom Mizunara Cask Finish Haitian Rum

Bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV), this Haitian rum has enough weight to stand up on its own without losing the lightness that makes fresh-cane spirit such a pleasure. Barbancourt distills from sugarcane juice rather than molasses, and you taste it immediately: white fruit and green cane, clean and a little sweet, with a floral lift running underneath.

A finishing period in Japanese Mizunara oak shifts the whole thing sideways. Sandalwood and baking spice settle in behind the fruit, and vanilla softens the edges without smothering anything. The finish is dry and perfumed, closer to incense than to caramel.

The 750 mL bottle drinks beautifully neat, though the cane character holds its shape in a daiquiri if you would rather mix. It is the kind of rum worth keeping within reach on a Tuesday and worth bringing out when someone who knows rum comes over.