Long Pond Plantation (Bardstown Bourbon Cask) 1998

This Long Pond under the Plantation label is a single cask matured for twenty-three years and finished in a Bardstown bourbon cask by Maison Ferrand. Although it comes from the Trelawny Wedderburn house, this bottling drinks far from the funky ester-rocket many associate with Long Pond, leaning instead toward richness and sweetness.

The nose offers oak, toffee, toasted notes and chocolate, and the palate continues with oak and toffee joined by dried fruit and a cappuccino note. Tasters describe an intense, present sweetness with a markedly column-heavy, Spanish-style feel, soft and easy to drink rather than sharply Jamaican. At 49.5% it is approachable and mellow. Maison Ferrand's range openly uses dosage, so this richness may owe as much to the house style as to the cask. A smooth, dessert-leaning old Long Pond for those who prefer their Jamaican gentle and sweet rather than wild.