Levy Lane Long Pond Tamosi Wiwakalaymay LSO 2006

Long Pond is Trelawny's historic Wedderburn house, distilled here on a double wooden pot still, and this 2006 single cask was bottled by Levy Lane under its Tamosi line, marque LSO. Wooden pot stills lend their own earthy, characterful imprint, and 17 years of tropical ageing has carried this one into dark, mentholic territory.

Matured in ex-bourbon casks and bottled unsweetened at a hefty 68.1%, it opens on vanilla, oak, black tea and petrol, turns minty and menthol-driven over oak and vanilla on the palate, and finishes woody, bitter and orange-edged. The profile leans dirty and medicinal, closer to a minty Trinidad rum or an old Clarendon than to a bright fruit-bomb Long Pond, with overripe tropical fruit lurking under the funk and wood. The high strength asks for slow sipping and a little time. A characterful, divisive old Long Pond for drinkers who chase petrol, mint and dry wood.