Naga Malacca

Naga Malacca is an Indonesian column-still rum that lands closer to a flavoured spirit than a traditional aged pour, bottled at a soft 40 percent. It is made for easy, fruit-forward drinking rather than for analysis, and is most at home in a glass full of ice and mixers.

Citrus dominates throughout: kumquat, mandarin and orange ride over vanilla and a sweet, candied base, with a fruity, lightly spiced finish. The sweetness is pronounced enough that it reads as a citrus liqueur as much as a rum, and there is little classic distillate character underneath the fruit. Treated honestly as a sweet, zesty mixer it does its job well, lifting a Pina Colada or a tropical long drink, but anyone after a dry, structured rum should pass.