Rum Clairin - Saint Benevolence - 50%
Clairins are the rums of Haiti , where there are 532 small artisanal distilleries scattered across the only Caribbean island that rebelled against slavery in 1804. Today, Haiti is one of the few countries to retain purist traditions ; with its native varieties of unhybridized sugar cane, its cultivation without chemicals, its spontaneous fermentation without yeasts and its archaic unfiltered distillation.
Sugarcane is grown in complantation with other plant species such as bananas and mangoes and is left untouched until harvest, which takes place 18 months after planting. Harvesting is done by hand, cutting with a cutlass (cane knife) and transport to the distillery is done with carts pulled by oxen. During the harvest, the cut canes are transported by hand to the mill. There they are inserted between the rollers and pressed. The juice flows into a stone container and while another worker collects the juices on the other side of the mill, a human chain transports the pressed canes to a drying area. According to the rules for obtaining the "Triple A" designation, the protocol must be as follows: the fermentation lasts at least 120 hours and the distillation takes place in a maximum of 5 stills with copper plates in direct contact with the flame. Then the rum must be bottled as soon as it comes out of the still and the bottling takes place in Haiti.
Saint Benevolence was established by Calvin and Chase Babcock , father and son, in 2017. In 2002, building on years of dedicated nonprofit work with Habitat for Humanity and his commitment to Haiti, Calvin founded Living Hope Haiti alongside Reverend Gueillant Dorcinvil. The following year, Calvin took his teenage son Chase to Haiti for the first of many father-son trips in support of the nonprofit work of Living Hope . Every bottle of Saint Benevolence rum directly funds life-changing medical services, educational programs and economic developments for people and local communities in northern Haiti.
This cuvée is a blend of indigenous sugar cane clones (Cristalline, Madame Meuze, Farine France and 24/14) grown organically on the fertile alluvial soils and tropical climate of Saint Michel de l'Attalaye. The high-quality sugar cane juice and syrup are distilled separately in a single pass in a Creole copper pot still and then blended.
