Albert Michler Distillery New Yarmouth 1994

New Yarmouth has become a darling of independent bottlers for its robust, funky pot still spirit, and the 1994 vintage in particular is a benchmark. This Albert Michler single cask carries it to 27 years, a great age for Jamaica, and presents it unsweetened at an approachable 52.8%.

Distilled from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak in Europe, the long continental ageing favours a smoother, more polished character than a tropical equivalent of the same age would show. The aroma is woody, sweet and fruity with tropical fruit, the palate keeps the tropical fruit alongside woody and varnish notes, and the finish brings red fruits, grapefruit and oak. There is overripe pineapple, menthol and varnish behind the wood, with pastry and baking spice rounding it out. It is a more relaxed, wood forward New Yarmouth that keeps the key markers while softening the aggression, an easy yet characterful sipper.