CoR Carrere Montebello Guadeloupe No. 1 1998

A Carrere Montebello bottling from The Colours of Rum, the Warsaw house known for transparent, additive-free single casks. Despite sitting in a Guyanese batch, this is a Guadeloupe rum from the Montebello distillery, a 23 year old single cask presented at a gentle, sippable strength rather than full proof, and it shows the herbal, vegetal side of French-island rum.

Maturated in ex-bourbon wood at 43.3% and unsweetened, it noses on dry herbs, citrus, anise and wood, then turns toward olive, anise, citrus and grass on the palate, closing on cedar, fruit and more citrus. The reduced strength suits its delicate, light-bodied frame, letting the herbal-woody charm and a peach-in-syrup sweetness come through without heat. An elegant, distinctive pour for drinkers who enjoy older Guadeloupe on the dry, vegetal side rather than rich molasses rum.