Savanna The Wild Island Edition – Forêt 2005

Part of Savanna's Wild Island Edition, this Foret bottling is a 13 year old Grand Arome from Reunion, distilled in 2005. The Grand Arome is Savanna's high ester, long fermentation molasses style, not a cane juice agricole, so this is all about aromatic intensity rather than grassy freshness. It is bottled unsweetened at a cask strength 56.4 percent.

Column distilled from molasses and aged in ex-bourbon wood, it bursts with overripe banana, strawberry candy, caramel and a varnish-like estery lift, the kind of funk that tips toward glue at the top end. The palate piles on pineapple, strawberry and that signature menthol, while 13 years of wood add leather and polish. The finish is fruity and minty with a leathery base. Loud and expressive, yet impressively drinkable for the style, this is one for lovers of full-throttle Savanna and funky Jamaicans.