Famille Ricci T.D.L Exception 2000

Bottled by Famille Ricci, this is a 24-year TDL from the 2000 vintage, a single cask of Trinidad Distillers rum drawn to a full 56.2% and left unsweetened. TDL, the living Angostura-group producer, is best known for light, column-distilled spirit, but well-aged single casks like this reveal a much richer, fruitier expression.

The molasses spirit, aged in ex-bourbon oak, leads with fruity, woody, mango and cherry notes on the nose, then tropical fruit, mint and wood on the palate, with the finish bringing more tropical fruit, berries, wood and caramel. The fruit is the headline, ripe and generous, lifted by a creamy mouthfeel and a touch of mint, while the oak stays restrained despite the long ageing. It rewards a rest in the glass and stays relatively easy for a cask-strength rum of this age, an elegant, fruit-driven Trinidad sipper.