Kill Devil 2011

Kill Devil 2011 is a single cask from Hunter Laing's Scottish whisky-house rum line, bottled non-chill-filtered and at natural strength in the bottler's usual purist style. The spirit reads as a rounder, lower-ester Jamaican, the kind tasters often place near Worthy Park rather than the heaviest funk houses.

The nose is inviting with apple, fruity and tropical notes over oak, though the palate does not quite deliver everything the aroma promises, offering a creamy texture with caramel and woody depth and a slight bitterness. The finish brings prunes and that bitter edge. Bottled at cask strength, 60.1%, and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it is a clean, well-made eleven year old Jamaican without the explosive ester of a DOK or TECC. A balanced single cask for drinkers who like their island rum rounded and accessible rather than aggressively funky.