A look inside the little known and rarely understood world of rural rhum production on the island of Haiti. Beyond the large brands such as Barbancourt and Vieux Labbe, most of the rhum produced and consumed by islanders in rural Haiti follows rustic, age-old production methods in the outer regions of this unique island. Slow, natural fermentation attracts the natural yeast of each micro-region, delivering a true snapshot of local DNA -- true terroir -- followed by a gentle distillation and simple finishing to produce a delightful, fresh cane spirit of fine quality. In this intimate tasting seminar, we'll sample some of the very best examples of Clairin from Haiti, which are now gaining greater appreciation in Europe thanks to the passionate efforts of Gianluca Gargano of Velier.

2. CLAIRIN : a World Heritage

3. Sugarcane varieties have to be indigenous, not hybrids
Sugarcane has to be organic
Agricolture

4. Indigenous varieties as Canne Cristalline, Canne Hawaii,
Canne Madame meuze
Cane varieties

5. Harvest has to be done by hand
Transport to the distillery has to be done by animals
Harvest

6. Juice has not to be diluited with water to reduce the brix
Juice has not to be added by any acid components
Juice

7. It’s not difficult to find wooden mills still
operating as in late ‘700

8. Fermentation has to develop with natural yeasts only.
No selected yeasts.
Fermentation has to take at least 120 hours
Fermentation

9. Distillation has to be done
in small batch:
pot still or pot still with
small column ( max 6
plates) on top.
Source of heat: Direct fire
Most of producers have a
small wooden ‘chauffe a
vin’, as charentais system
of early ‘800
Clairin has to be bottles at
strenght of the distillation,
with no dilution.dilution
Bottling in Haiti
Distillation

12. Michel Sajous

13. Faubert Casimir

14. Fritz Vaval

15. Colour: Clear, with weak notes of light straw. Not briliant and cristalline (no filtration)
Nose: Clean, erbaceous, notes of pear, with essential oils of tangerine, fresh mint.
The sugar cane aromas is clear and immediate, with vibrant energy.
Mouth: Just poured is more erbaceous and around sugarcane, if sipped after a while
it spreads up more notes of pear and fresh fruits. Feminine
Finish: Clean, dry, not sugary
Way of drinking: neat, with ice and lime peels, but even mixed with fruits or herbs.
Colour: Clear, with notes of light straw. Not briliant and cristalline (no filtration)
Nose: Clean but fatty, erbaceous, with notes of truffles, medicinal, iodium,
hydrocarbure, gas. The sugar cane aromas is neat but heavy, brown sugar toasted.
Even Casimir has great energy.
Mouth: Just poured is more on truffles and volatile notes go out, if sipped after a
while it spreads up heavy sugary notes. More masculine
Finish: Gassy, sugary
Way of drinking: neat, with ice, but even mixed in experimental way with truffles
peel, spices, citric essential oils

16. Agricolture
Sugarcane varieties have to be indigenous and not hybrids
Sugarcane has to be organic
Harvest
Harvest has to be done by hand
Transport of the sugarcane to the distillery has to be done by
animals
Juice
Juice has not to be diluited with water to reduce the brix
Juice has not to be added by acids
Fermentation
Fermentation of sugar cane juice has to develop with natural
yeasts only. No selected yeasts.
Fermentation has to take at least 120 hours
Distillation
Distillation has to be done in small batch, in pot still or pot
still with small column ( max 6 plates) on top.
Direct fire
Clairin has to be bottles at strenght of the distillation, with no dilution.
Bottling has to be done in Haiti
To be a real artisanal CLAIRIN, it has to follow these rules