Review #6: Clairin Sajous

Clairin Sajous is produced at Distillerie Chelo, owned by Michel Sajous in the countryside of Saint-Michel-de-l’Attalaye, about four hours north of Port au Prince.

Distillerie Chelo is a small, well-organised distillery which produces Clairin from Canne Cristalline, an old heritage variety of burgundy cane with incredible aromatic complexity.

As mentioned in my Kō Hana KILA review, I've been super fascinated by rums recently. And only ever had rums in a cocktail and not by itself. During some initial searching and lots of YouTube videos, I found Clairin Sajous to be a recommendation for people to try. So I picked up a bottle along with the Kō Hana. And boy I had no idea what to expect.

I've tried my best to explain what I smell and taste below, but before I get into that let me just say one thing: I still have no idea how to best describe this bottle. It's unlike any spirit I've experienced in the past and I still haven't made up my mind whether it's something I regret buying or am happy I tried. But let's try and get into it.

Nose: My initial thinking here is just "this is funky" and had difficulty getting past that. But after a while you do start to get a ton of vegetable notes. Think pineapple rind, horseradish and shishito peppers. (without all the spice) It's a smell that had me wonder whether I'd be able to drink this at all. It's also incredibly grassy in its scent.

Palate: The funk continued into the mouth! The above notes carry into the taste and just explodes with a lot of vegetable and grassy flavors. After a bit you start to taste some green bell peppers and rather pronounced sugarcane notes too. The finish leads with some cucumber and the shishito peppers come for one last round too.

This bottle arrived before the Kō Hana and I gave it a try. I will admit that I was incredibly worried that my journey into the rum world was going to be very short lived. I know not to judge a whole spirit by one body but this Clairin Sajous is something that I don't think I would reach for often when I consider having some rum.

It's a fascinating bottle with a complexity that, for me, will take some time to appreciate. It's not a bottle I dislike by any means, but it's not something I instantly fell in love with. This may be blasphemous amongst the rum community, but I did use this to make a daiquiri and honestly, the complexity in its flavor profile lent really well to the cocktail.

Overall I cannot say whether this is a bottle I would recommend. It's not that it's an awful rum, it's just so very different from what I am used to. I am hoping that in time as I keep trying it, I will come to appreciate for what it is. But for now, I think look elsewhere if you're wanting to get into the rum world.