Panamonte Bourbon Oak Cask

Panamonte Bourbon Oak Cask is a 12 year old Panamanian rum made on a column still from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak. It sits firmly in the Spanish style, where a light spirit and barrel ageing set the frame, and this bottling is openly sweetened, so it should be read as a soft, dessert-leaning ron rather than a dry sipper.

The added sugar shows in the texture and flavour, giving honeycomb and raisin on the nose alongside oak and a faint medicinal note, with hints of banana and other fruit underneath. The palate is sweet and candied over oak, and the finish turns woody with a touch of bitterness, the nose arguably the more rewarding part. At a gentle 40% it is smooth and easy, a mellow, sweetened Panamanian rum for drinkers who enjoy a rounded, sugar-softened style and are not after bracing dryness.