Cadenhead‘s Enmore XPD 1971

Cadenhead is one of the great independent bottlers, and this 1971 Enmore is among the most celebrated old Demeraras it has released, a thirty-two-year expression from the wooden Coffey still, the last of its kind in the world. Bottled unsweetened at a formidable 61.8% from a vintage now confined to auction, it is closed-era Guyana at its most storied.

The nose is unmistakably old-school, varnish, glue, wood and molasses, the palate opens into mango, coffee, figs and liquorice, and the finish stays long with fruit, spice, burnt sugar and wood. Leather, tobacco and dried fruit meet heavy sweetness, sharp spice and a wall of wood, the high alcohol cleanly integrated for the strength. This is the singular character of the oldest Demeraras in full, a deep, layered Enmore for experienced palates and a high point of the Cadenhead rum catalogue.