CDI Secret Florida 2004

Compagnie des Indes bottles this undisclosed Florida distillery as a single cask, a 2004 vintage carried seventeen years and presented unsweetened at 44%. The Secret label points to a source the house cannot name, and despite the long age it keeps a bright, fruit-forward American character.

The nose opens on apricot, syrupy stone fruit, green apple and spice, the palate softens into vanilla, caramel and apricot, and the finish runs woody with brown sugar and vanilla. Some yellow and green fruit and a touch of herbal funk give it interest, though at 44% after dilution it reads lighter than its age, and the ex-bourbon cask here is gentle rather than dominant. It is an honest, dry single cask that rewards a relaxed approach, a characterful curiosity from a producer drinkers trust for clean, well-chosen barrels rather than a deep, heavyweight sipper.