Heimat Distillers Diamond Ramero Rum Single Cask Riesling 2018

A young single cask Diamond 2018 from Germany's Heimat Distillers, finished in a Riesling wine cask under the Ramero Rum label. Drawn from blended column and pot stock at the Diamond distillery, it is an experimental cask-finish bottling rather than a classic long-aged Guyana, the Riesling steering it well away from familiar Demerara territory.

Maturated from molasses and finished in Riesling wood at 54.2%, it noses on wine, vanilla, grapes and young wood, then turns dry, tannic and herbal with the wine note, the finish carrying more wine, dark chocolate, herbs and a medicinal edge, with coconut and creme brulee surfacing underneath the winey character. Unsweetened and bottled at cask strength, it is a spicy, side-stepping curiosity, the four years and the white-wine cask leaving it sharp and experimental rather than smooth. One for drinkers who enjoy unusual cask finishes and a bit of herbal bitterness.