CDI Port Mourant 2002

CDI Port Mourant 2002 is a single cask from Compagnie des Indes, drawn off the Port Mourant double wooden pot still and bottled at thirteen years and 43 percent after a port-wood finish. Compagnie des Indes is respected for its terroir-led single casks, and this is a softer, lower-proof expression of the heaviest Demerara still.

The nose carries metallic, nutmeg, plum and caramel, with the palate turning to young wood, pepper, nutmeg and herbal notes, finishing dry over raisin, young wood and clove. The pencil and wood here are pronounced, and some drinkers feel it could carry more strength to fill out the frame. As an unsweetened bottling, the character is all spirit and barrel, a rounder, drier and more restrained Port Mourant for those who like the marque without the full oily intensity of the cask-strength versions.