Long Pond Kill Devil 2005

Kill Devil is the rum line from Hunter Laing, the Scottish whisky house that bottles single casks at natural strength without chill filtration. This Long Pond was distilled in 2005 and aged sixteen years. Long Pond is the historic Wedderburn house of Trelawny, capable of serious funk, but this cask leans toward a sweeter, more accommodating profile while keeping the distillery's fruit and ester.

Matured in ex-bourbon wood and bottled at a hefty 67%, it opens with coconut, oak, vanilla and toffee, the palate brings mango, caramel, vanilla and ester, and the finish carries coconut, overripe fruit, roasted notes and cocoa. Tasters catch light glue and ester over fermented mango, toasted coconut, bitter cocoa and toffee with medium oak tannins, a sweet-fruited core with real force behind it. Tropical ageing has built that toffee-and-coconut richness around the Long Pond funk. This is a full-proof Trelawny rum for experienced palates who want a sweeter, vanilla and mango take at cask strength, best in small pours, neat.