Milano Rum Festival Diamond Demerara Single Cask Rum 2003

A single cask Diamond 2003 bottled for the Milano Rum Festival, drawn from the column stock at the Diamond distillery that runs Guyana's heritage stills. At 18 years and full proof, it is a direct, wood-forward column Demerara rather than a heavy wooden-pot statement.

Maturated from molasses in ex-bourbon wood at 58.9%, it noses on wood, dried fruit and an intense alcoholic lift, then delivers dried fruit over warm, dry wood, the finish staying warm, woody and dry, with pencil shavings, a faint mint and light caramel emerging and an edge that leans toward bitter Monymusk territory. Unsweetened and bottled at cask strength, it reads as a firm, intense Diamond that needs a little water to open, the alcohol prominent alongside the dry oak. One for drinkers who like their Guyana lean, dry and at full strength rather than soft and sweet.