Distilia Westerhall Estate The Golden Age of Piracy Edward Low 1993

Part of Distilia's Golden Age of Piracy series, this Edward Low release presents Westerhall Estate rum from Grenada as a single cask, a 1993 vintage carried twenty-nine years and bottled unsweetened at a formidable 64.5%. Long tropical ageing in ex-bourbon wood gives it the depth of a much-travelled barrel.

The profile is classic aged molasses rum from bourbon casks, distilled clean and matured to a deep, oaky core. The nose offers caramel, wood, milk chocolate and burnt sugar, the palate turns to vanilla, wood, caramel and oak, and the finish brings toasted notes, dark chocolate, barrel and pepper. Toasted nuts and light dried fruit fill it out, and the whole thing carries a Nutella-like richness without any sweetness added. Drinkers note it could pass blind for Belize. At this strength it asks for slow aeration and a little water, a structured, dry sipper for those who favour ex-bourbon depth over funk.