Worthy Park RA 2007

Worthy Park is St. Catherine's clean, precise 100% pot still estate, but this 2007 single cask from Germany's Rum Artesanal sends it somewhere unexpected, finishing the rum in a peated whisky cask drinkers liken to Bowmore or Bunnahabhain. The result is a deliberate collision of Jamaican fruit and Islay smoke rather than a classic pot still sipper.

Matured in ex-bourbon casks before that peated finish and bottled unsweetened at cask strength, 57.3%, it leads with smoke, ash and citrus on the nose, then tobacco, vanilla and woody depth on the palate, with a smoky, cigar-and-salt finish. The peat is dominant enough that the Worthy Park fruit needs time in the glass to push through, making this a polarising experiment more than an easy drink. For whisky lovers curious how smoke plays against Jamaican pot still character, it is a bold, memorable bottle; for purists chasing clean funk, an acquired taste.