Distillerie Dieugrand Marcellus Clairim St. Michel De L'attalaye Rum

Dieugrand Marcellus produces one of Haiti's most expressive clairins in St. Michel de l'Attalaye, distilling hand-harvested Blue Crystalline sugarcane twice through a handmade 1,000-gallon stainless steel pot still and bottling at full proof without filtration or aging. Unlike rum traditions that rely on molasses and industrial yeast, Haitian clairin ferments fresh cane juice with wild, ambient yeast in open-top vessels, yielding a spirit that tastes less like standardized Caribbean rum and more like the place it's made. This bottle reaches Chicago at 52% ABV, preserving the vivid aromatics and mineral character that define the St. Michel terroir. Dieugrand Marcellus was born and raised in St. Michel de l'Attalaye, learning distillation by assisting his grandparents and working in local distilleries before building his own operation. He sources Blue Crystalline cane from nearby fields, pressing the juice and allowing native yeast to ferment it in open vessels before double distillation in a handmade pot still fabricated on-site. The still's design and twice-through distillation produce a lighter-textured profile than the heavier, funkier clairins from Haiti's south, but the full-proof bottling retains the high-toned spice and fruit aromatics that disappear when spirits are diluted or filtered. The process mirrors the methods of other Haitian small-distillers like Patrick St. Surin, but each producer's cane source, water, and still geometry deliver a distinct regional fingerprint. The nose delivers clean, piercing notes of white pepper, lime peel, and green banana, while the palate opens with vivid tropical fruit—ripe papaya, guava, passion fruit—balanced by a mineral salinity and a long, warming finish of cracked black pepper and raw cane. The 52% ABV amplifies the aromatic lift without overwhelming; a few drops of water will soften the heat and open the fruit further. Pair this with ceviche, grilled snapper with salsa verde, or cured meats where the spirit's brightness and spice cut through fat. It also works in a Ti' Punch or daiquiri if you want the cane character front and center instead of buried under aged-rum caramel. Available for pickup at our Lincoln Park bottle shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.