Long Pond & Hampden RA Trelawny Double Cask 2000

Bottled by Heinz Eggert under the Rum Artesanal label, the respected German full-proof house, this marries Long Pond and Hampden distillate from Trelawny, distilled in 2000 and aged twenty years in ex-bourbon from a single cask at 51.9%. Two of the parish's heavy-ester estates combine for a layered Jamaican.

From double-retort pot stills and molasses, it shows ester, pineapple, banana and vanilla on the nose, then fruity esters and a fermented, melon-like edge on the palate, the Hampden component reading as the more dominant of the two. The finish turns roasted, with banana, young wood and papaya. Twenty years of ageing has pulled it drier and more mature than the youthful funk bombs without losing the fruit. Certified unsweetened, it is a relaxed yet characterful sipper that rewards attention, especially given its original value.