Excellence Rhum Diamond (Port Mourant) MPM 2005

Excellence Rhum selected this 2005 single cask of Diamond rum bearing the Port Mourant marque and finished it in port. PM is the double wooden pot still profile, normally oily and anise driven, though this younger bottling shows a lighter, more floral and smoky face. At eleven years and full cask strength, it is a vivid but slightly raw take on the marque.

Molasses based, matured in oak and finished in port, it noses on floral notes, tropical fruit, smoke and cinnamon, then turns earthy and tropical with a soapy edge on the palate before a spicy, woody, peppery finish touched with cherry. At 60.1% the alcohol sits forward and the rum is best given time to rest, where the smoke and light fruit come through more clearly. This is a youthful, high proof PM that leans on smoke and spice rather than the deep oily liquorice of older expressions, an unsweetened cask for drinkers who like their Demerara bold and untamed.