Neisson Rhum Vieux Agricole (The Last One) 2005

Neisson is a small family distillery on Martinique, founded in 1931 and long a favourite, and this final cut of its 2005 vintage carries the AOC pedigree. At eighteen years it is well beyond the six-year minimum for XO, and tropical ageing means those years show as serious maturity rather than mere age on a label.

Distilled on a creole column from fresh-pressed sugar-cane juice and matured in ex-bourbon oak, the rum has taken on an unusual heft for an agricole, a dark, almost demerara-like density. Young wood, floral notes and citrus open the nose, while the palate brings dried fruit, oak and the grassy agricole core, with caramel and raisin filling out the body. The finish is woody, heavy and long. Unsweetened and bottled in tiny numbers, it is a dry, weighty sipper for those who already know aged Neisson and want it at its deepest.