Dictador Capitulo 1 Sherry Cask 1996

This Capitulo 1 is a long-aged Dictador release, a 1996 vintage Colombian rum carried twenty-four years and finished in sherry casks before bottling at 44%. Column-distilled from molasses, it shows the brand's solera-leaning house character reshaped by an assertive wine-cask influence that takes it somewhere drier and more savoury than Dictador's usual sweet register.

The nose is alcoholic and earthy, brown sugar and clear sherry notes over a leathery base. The palate is firmer and less sweet than the brand's standard line, with bitterness, leather and only a restrained sweetness coming through. The finish is dry, woody and peppery, the sherry cask plainly setting the tone. This is a wine-cask-driven sipper where the fortified influence dominates the spirit, one for drinkers who like their long-aged rum tannic, earthy and on the dry side rather than soft and dessert-like.