Beenleigh Dead Reckoning Rum 2014

Beenleigh Dead Reckoning Rum 2014 comes from Beenleigh, one of Australia's oldest distilleries, a molasses rum from the 2014 vintage aged nine years in ex bourbon oak and bottled unsweetened at 55%. It offers a drier, more serious look at Australian rum than the distillery's gentler bottlings, with the strength turned up.

The nose is woody and herbal with cinnamon and citrus, the palate brings wood, raisin, pear and caramel, and the finish stays woody and hot with raisin and fruit. Drinkers find it quite a hot and spicy rum built around wood, raisin and pepper, with the classic Beenleigh character emerging late on the finish. The style sits close to a dry, bourbon cask rum in the Foursquare mould, only from Australia, which makes it an interesting detour for those who like that warm oak, caramel and spice combination. Honest and unsweetened, it is a sound, wood forward sipper, even if it stays fairly direct in its flavours.