Chairman’s Reserve The Forgotten Casks

Chairman's Reserve The Forgotten Casks comes from Saint Lucia, named for a parcel of casks said to have been set aside and rediscovered after extra years of quiet maturation. It is a molasses rum drawn off a Coffey still and aged eleven years in ex-bourbon oak, an island whose rums tend toward a soft, fruit and oak driven character rather than heavy funk.

Bottled unsweetened at 40%, it shows vanilla, dried fruit and caramel over toasted oak, with a little spice on a gently sweet finish that owes its roundness to the cask rather than to any dosage. The extra time in wood gives it a drier, more mature feel than the sugared rums it might sit beside on a shelf, without ever turning heavy or demanding. For a drinker wanting an easygoing yet genuine step up from sweeter bottles, it is a relaxed, characterful sipper with a quiet sense of age.