Dràm Mòr Diamond Single Cask Rum 2011

Dràm Mòr selected this single cask of Diamond rum from the 2011 vintage, a little over ten years old and finished in a fresh port barrel. All Guyanese rum now comes from the Diamond distillery, which keeps the country's heritage stills running, and the dark, aniseed Port Mourant character that several tasters pick up here points to the heaviest of those wooden pot stills behind the blend.

The port finish has loaded the spirit with cask flavour: dark caramel, chocolate, vanilla and a touch of coconut up front, with banana and a faint salinity underneath. The molasses base keeps it creamy and fruity rather than sharp, before a woody finish of liquorice and anise takes over. At 55 percent the strength feels measured rather than fierce, a balanced and fairly priced way to step from bourbon cask Barbados into Guyanese single casks.