Berry Bros & Rudd Diamond 10-Year-Old (Exclusive for The Nectar) 2010

Berry Bros and Rudd, the long established London merchant, selected this 2010 Diamond bearing the Port Mourant marque, bottled at cask strength and unsweetened for The Nectar. PM is the double wooden pot still profile, usually oily and anise driven, though at ten years this is a younger, fresher and woodier take where the still character is still developing. The full proof keeps it bright and lively.

Molasses based and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it noses on wood, freshness, spice and a faint smoke, with light apple and dried fruit underneath, then carries allspice, a round body, roast and wood onto the palate before a finish of wood, dried fruit, spice and chocolate. At 58.7% the rum reads as a good but youthful PM, clearly still on the young side for the marque, with the wood and spice ahead of the deeper oily notes. An honest, dry, full proof Diamond for drinkers happy to meet a Port Mourant early in its life.