Clarendon Plantation 2007 Clarendon MSP (One-Time Limited Edition) MSP

Clarendon, home of the Monymusk marks, runs both pot and column stills, and this 2007 vintage is a single-island pot still rum selected and re-aged by Maison Ferrand for its Plantation collection, finished in a cognac cask in France. The MSP mark and the unsweetened, cask-strength bottling at 48.4% put it among the brand's transparent, enthusiast-facing releases rather than its dosed core.

This is the fruit-forward side of Jamaica rather than the gluey high-ester extreme. The pot still spirit aged tropically before its French finish, and it shows ripe banana, mango and pineapple lifted by vanilla, with the cognac cask adding a light, dry wood. The palate keeps that tropical fruit over soft oak, closing dry and lightly vanilla. At full proof it has a clear kick but stays approachable, a pleasant, subtly funky Clarendon for drinkers who prefer ripe Jamaican fruit to ester bombs.