Habitation Velier Mount Gay Last Ward 2011

Habitation Velier's Mount Gay Last Ward 2011 belongs to Velier's Pure Single Rum line, which spotlights pot still, single distillery spirit bottled at full proof without additives. It honours Frank Ward of Mount Gay and presents a 9 year old Barbados pot still rum, a step away from the island's usual pot and column blends toward something punchier.

Distilled from molasses on a pot still and matured in ex-bourbon oak, then bottled at 52.3% with no sweetening, it is dry, fruity and woody, with marzipan, dried fruit and spice on the nose, then chocolate, caramel, nutmeg and tea on a firmly oaked palate, finishing on tobacco, wood and roasted spice. For its relatively young age the cask presence is generous and positive. It suits drinkers moving into bolder Barbadian pot still rum and makes a focused, characterful pour to be taken neat and slow.