Diamond Kill Devil 2003

Hunter Laing bottled this Diamond under its Kill Devil label from the 2003 vintage, a sixteen year old pot still single cask. Diamond is where Guyana's heritage stills now live, and the dry, peppery, full bodied character here marks it out as one of the pot still recipes rather than the lighter Savalle column.

Molasses based and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it is bottled dry and at full cask strength. The nose gives fruit, tobacco, prunes and a whiff of solvent, the palate turns peppery and pungent with vanilla, raisin, clove and brown sugar, and the finish stays peppery with dried fruit, prunes and liquorice. It carries some metallic and tannic edges alongside good length. At 59.9 percent it is a no nonsense, slightly challenging Guyanese single cask, best suited to drinkers who like their pot still rum dry and forceful.