Habitation Velier Privateer New England Single Rum 2017

This Habitation Velier Privateer New England Single Rum 2017 comes from the Privateer distillery in Massachusetts, bottled under Velier's Habitation line, which specialises in pure single rums at full proof, single distillery and unsweetened. At three years old it is youthful, but the American oak and 55.6 percent strength give it plenty to say. The botanical black and white label marks it out as part of one of the most respected purist ranges in rum.

Distilled on a column still from molasses and matured in ex bourbon wood, it leans hard into a bourbon adjacent profile of vanilla, caramel, toffee and coconut, with spicy oak, roasted notes and tobacco building on the finish. The cask strength shows as a little heat, and the youth keeps the body lean rather than deep, so it reads vivid and slightly hot rather than rounded. For drinkers who enjoy bourbon or dry Barbados styles, it offers an unsweetened American take with familiar vanilla and oak at higher proof.