Valinch & Mallet Traditional Rum 2006

Valinch & Mallet Traditional Rum 2006 is a single cask from El Salvador, an origin most drinkers associate with just one distillery, bottled by the Italian rooted house Valinch & Mallet. Distilled on a column still from molasses, vintage 2006 with seventeen years in Ex-Bourbon oak and bottled unsweetened at a cask strength 54.9%, it shows what patient ageing can do for a lighter base.

The nose is fresh and fruity with apple, a vegetal edge and light wood, some tasters even catching a faint smoke and citrus. The palate turns woody and oily with apple and a fruity core, the column distillate gaining real texture and depth from its long maturation. The finish stays on fruit, wood and that oily, vegetal character. Dry and full at cask strength, it is a floral, fruit forward rum that rewards a little air, a satisfying single cask for those who enjoy aged, additive free rum from off the beaten path.