HSE Sherry Oloroso Finish 2004

This HSE Sherry Oloroso Finish 2004 is an aged Martinique agricole from the Distillerie du Simon, where HSE built its name on cask finishes and vintages. Distilled from fresh sugarcane juice and matured around nine and a half years before a roughly one year finish in Fino and Oloroso sherry casks, it carries AOC Martinique weight and sits at a comfortable 45%.

The creole column keeps the cane character intact, and the sherry casks lend dried fruit and nuts without smothering it. The nose runs on nutmeg, candied fruit, grape and vanilla, the palate sweet then spicy with an agricole vegetal thread and marmalade, the finish dried-fruit-led, dry and slightly astringent with the cane returning. The added-sugar status is unstated and the rum reads dry overall. The sherry and cane sit in balance, the spirit standing up to the cask. A well-judged, dry sipping rum for someone who likes sherry-finished spirits but wants the rum to hold its ground.