CDI Boulet de Canon 8

CDI Boulet de Canon 8 is a Nicaraguan release from Compagnie des Indes, the respected, terroir minded French bottler. The spirit is molasses based and distilled on a column still in the soft Nicaraguan style, but the defining move here is a heavy peated whisky cask finish that reshapes the rum almost entirely, bottled at 46%.

The peat takes over. The nose leads with smoke, peat and a medicinal edge over light fruit, the palate is smoky and peaty with a clear whisky character and a touch of sweetness, and the finish stays smoky, charred and spicy with leather. The underlying Nicaraguan rum is mostly subsumed by the cask, so the honest read is a smoke driven crossover that drinks closer to peated Scotch than to classic ron. Well integrated and divisive, it suits Islay whisky lovers far more than drinkers seeking a sweet, smooth Spanish style pour.