TBRC Diamond Versailles Still SXG

That Boutique-y Rum Company, the honest no additives bottler curated by Peter Holland, released this 14 year Versailles marque distilled by Demerara Distillers on the single wooden pot still that sits between Enmore and Port Mourant, robust and tannic with a raw wood backbone. Bottled at 55.6 percent and naturally presented, it shows the drier, leathery extreme of the style.

Matured in ex bourbon, the molasses spirit opens minty and woody with tea, then a palate of leather, barrel, black tea and oak, closing peppery and woody. There is a thread of tobacco and tropical fruit underneath, but the wood and tannin lead, so this needs a good rest in the glass to soften. It suits drinkers who like traditional dry Demerara and want a punchier, more leathery take on the Versailles profile, a serious pot still sipper to be taken slowly.