Mount Gay RA Rum BMMG 2000

Rum Artesanal, the respected German single-cask bottler, selected this independent Mount Gay from the 2000 vintage, drawn at 22 years and bottled at cask strength, 56.5%. Mount Gay markets itself as the world's oldest commercial rum distillery, with a deed dated 1703, and an indie release at this age and strength is an uncommon look at the house outside its own range.

Distilled on a pot still from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak, this is a dry, wood-forward Mount Gay rather than the softer XO style. Orange peel, oak and anise lead, with spice, dried fruit and caramel on the palate and a herbal, tobacco-and-menthol character running through a nutty finish. There is a faint smokiness and a quirky, almost juniper-like edge that sets it apart. Bottled unsweetened, it leans intense and a touch idiosyncratic, a characterful, oak-driven cask for drinkers who want a drier, more unusual take on Barbados with plenty of age behind it.