Tres Hombres Captain’s Choice Ed. 43 Hispaniola Solera XXIII

Tres Hombres, the sail-shipped rum project, bottles this Captain's Choice Hispaniola as a Dominican solera at full overproof strength. The XXIII on the label points to the oldest component in the solera blend rather than an age, so this is best understood as a solera-built rum carrying a trace of older spirit, not a 23-year-old.

The base is column-distilled molasses rum, married in a solera and bottled at a hefty 63.2%. The profile is rich and sweet-leaning: chocolate, caramel, roasted nuts and dried apricot, with a woody, caramelised finish. At cask strength it packs serious heat, so water is a friend here and helps the sweeter notes unfold. Honestly framed, this is a powerful, dessert-edged solera rum, generous and warming, rewarding for those who like their Spanish-style rum loud and full rather than light and dry.