The Wild Parrot Clarendon Clarendon Parish 1995

The Wild Parrot bottled this single cask Clarendon, distilled in 1995 and aged 25 years, carrying the EMB marque from Jamaica's workhorse distillery. The mid-90s Clarendon EMBs are a prized seam, and this one shows the woodier, more austere face of that vintage.

Distilled from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon wood under tropical conditions, it opens spicy and medicinal with tropical fruit and glue, then turns to barrel, tropical fruit, tannin and pepper on the palate, finishing earthy with oak, menthol and toast. Bottled at 65.9% and unsweetened, it hits hard, the heavy oak, tobacco and menthol taking the lead over the fruit, which sits in a more restrained register than the fruitiest 1995 releases. This is a challenging but rewarding old Clarendon for experienced drinkers, one that needs a long rest in the glass to settle and reveal its warm dried-fruit depth.