A.H. Riise Non Plus Ultra Very Rare Rum

A.H. Riise trades on Danish West Indies heritage, and the Non Plus Ultra is its most lavish, dessert leaning expression, a molasses rum matured in ex-bourbon oak and then sweetened with a generous hand. The result is luscious rather than dry: caramel, vanilla, candied orange and dried fruit pour out of the glass, soft and rounded at 42%.

Honesty matters with a bottle like this. The sweetness is pronounced enough that it reads closer to a rum liqueur than to a classic aged sipper, and the depth on show owes as much to the dosage as to the years in cask. Taken on those terms it is an indulgent treat, a sweet nightcap or a gift bottle for someone with a sweet tooth, generous in fruit and easy to drink. Anyone seeking a dry, spirit forward rum should look elsewhere, but as a dessert in a glass it delivers exactly what it promises.