Corman Collins Clarendon 1996

Belgian bottler Corman Collins selected this Clarendon from the 1996 vintage, a single cask at 54%, unsweetened and twenty five years old. A quarter century of tropical ageing makes it a slow, contemplative Jamaican, the kind that pairs the estate's fruit with a real depth of oak, for drinkers who want age and funk together.

Molasses fermentation and Clarendon's pot still character set up the fruit, and long maturation in ex-bourbon oak has built the structure. The nose carries dried fruit, vanilla, spice and cherry, the palate bursts with tropical fruit, vanilla and warm spice over wood, and the finish runs long, woody and edged with bitter chocolate. The oak is assertive but balanced by the fruit rather than swamping it. This is a dry, layered Clarendon to be sipped slowly, ideally with time and a little air.