Hedonist SAS Gun’s Bell Spiced

Gun's Bell Spiced from Hedonist SAS takes a column-still molasses rum, barely a year old, and leans into spice and coconut rather than maturity. Matured briefly in ex-bourbon wood, it is an unpretentious spiced bottling that sets out to be approachable rather than serious, and at 40% it stays gentle throughout.

The nose mixes tropical fruit and coconut with a faint spirity edge from its youth. On the palate, vanilla and coconut sit alongside cinnamon and allspice, the spicing kept warm rather than aggressive, with a short fruity, spiced finish. Unusually for the category it is listed as unsweetened, so the sweetness here reads as gentle rather than syrupy. It drinks pleasantly neat for a spiced rum and slips just as easily into a simple long drink.