Bristol Reserve Rum of 2004

Bristol Classic Rum is a long running English bottler with a reputation for sourcing aged rum from across the Caribbean, here turning to Nicaragua's Compania Licorera, the distillery behind Flor de Caña. Distilled in 2004 and bottled at eighteen years, it is a column still molasses rum aged in ex-bourbon and presented at 47%, in Bristol's largely purist, no frills tradition.

The nose is the lively part, with kiwi, grape, burnt sugar and brown sugar, while the palate turns to toffee, wood and vanilla, sitting a touch lean in body. The finish is dry with caramel, a cappuccino like coffee note and warmth. Reviewers find it a little thin and restrained for its age, very much a column still spirit rather than a heavy one. Added sugar is not disclosed, and it reads as a dry, oak forward Nicaragua for drinkers who value the bottler's honest, unfussed approach over sheer richness.