TBRC Barbancourt Bottled for Kirsch Whisky

Barbancourt is Haiti's most famous rum house, distilling from fresh pressed sugar cane juice rather than molasses, agricole in spirit though Haiti sits outside the protected French naming. This single cask was selected by That Boutique-y Rum Company, the honest, no additive bottler curated by Peter Holland, and released for the German retailer Kirsch, drawn at sixteen years from an ex bourbon barrel.

The nose is nutty with hay, spice and citrus, while the palate turns spicy, warm and strong, nutty underneath, the finish carrying warmth and a note of espresso. For all the strength on paper, some drinkers find it sits a touch flat, wanting a little more of the yellow fruit and lift they look for in older Barbancourt. Bottled at a warming cask strength 56.7% and free of additives in the Boutique-y house style, it is a robust, savoury Haitian cane juice rum that rewards a drop of water and slow appraisal.