Background
Up in the mountains of Ecuador is a small village called Surales, where Remigio Cordero and his grandson Ismael create puro, the local name given to unaged cane distillate. To produce the puro, a locally grown variety of sugarcane, Caña Blanc, is harvested, crushed, fermented with native yeasts, double distilled in a pot still, and bottled without dilution at 60.1%.
Tasting
On the nose, this initially presents somewhat like a classic AOC agricole but with some funk. I get olives, sea breeze, cilantro, fennel, lime peel, Granny Smith apple, and underripe banana.
The palate is lush and sweet. There are lots of olives and leafy green herbs; also some mustard seed, underripe banana, grapefruit, Granny Smith apple, watermelon, honeydew, cucumber, orange blossom water, and minerality.
Verdict
This is a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables doused in olive brine and seawater, and it’s awesome. I taste some similarities to A1710 and some of the more olive-forward clairins, but its differences from these make it worth seeking out. If you’re into funky cane juice rums, don’t sleep on Puro. (7/10)