Nobilis Clarendon No. 25 MMW 2010

Nobilis Rum bottled this Clarendon MMW as a single cask at a fierce 68.4%, unsweetened and undiluted. MMW is one of Clarendon's pot still marks, and at eleven years of tropical ageing it arrives dense and powerful, very much a bottle for drinkers who want their Jamaica loud and uncompromising rather than polite.

Molasses fermentation and double retort pot distillation give the estery, glue tinged nose its tropical fruit and intensity, and ex-bourbon oak has dried it right out. The palate is spicy and woody with cinnamon, moving into roasted coffee, dark chocolate and a marzipan note on a long, dry finish. At this strength it genuinely needs time in the glass to unfurl, and a few drops of water help, but the reward is a concentrated, warming pour that suits a cold evening.