New Yarmouth S.B.S 1994

This is an S.B.S single cask from 1423, drawn from New Yarmouth, the J. Wray and Nephew distillery behind Wray and Nephew Overproof and increasingly sought after through independent bottlings. Distilled in 1994 on the column still and aged twenty-six years in ex-bourbon wood, it is unsweetened, non-chill-filtered and bottled at cask strength in the meticulous, provenance-first S.B.S tradition. The result is a Jamaican that trades the expected ester funk for polish and depth.

The nose gives coconut, banana, a little glue and toffee; the palate is creamy coconut, vanilla and chocolate, finishing woody and spiced with more coconut and vanilla. Reviewers describe it as gentle and melting, more coconut-chocolate pastry than classic high-funk Jamaica, with lovely caramel, leather and well-judged oak that never turns too dominant for its age. Give the glass a few minutes to open, and it sips as a creamy, polished, balanced rum for drinkers who want age and richness without big Jamaican funk.