CoR Long Pond No. 12 LPS 1998

The Colours of Rum bottled this Long Pond LPS from the 1998 vintage, a single cask at 52.7%, unsweetened and twenty three years old. LPS sits toward the calmer end of the estate, and at this age it has settled into a soft, easygoing Jamaican that favours mellow fruit over aggressive funk, a good pick for drinkers who find the loudest Long Ponds too much.

Molasses fermentation and double retort pot distillation laid the base, and long ageing in ex-bourbon oak has rounded it off. The nose offers tropical fruit, light esters, vanilla and yellow fruit, the palate is candied and gently spiced with a soft texture, and the finish is roasted and lightly woody. This is restrained rather than explosive, an easy, relaxed sipper that shows the gentler face of Long Pond, fruit and light wood ahead of the estate's wilder side.