Oliver & Oliver Ron Esclavo XO Islay Whisky Cask Finish

Ron Esclavo XO comes from Oliver and Oliver, the Dominican blending house behind Cubaney and Opthimus, here given an Islay whisky cask finish by the Danish bottler 1423. The base is column still molasses rum in the classic Spanish style, soft and rounded, and the Islay finish adds a coastal, lightly smoky frame around the sweeter Dominican core. It is bottled at 46% with no age stated.

The aroma runs to dried fruit, milk chocolate, nutty notes and marzipan, and the palate is fruity and openly sweet with that same dried fruit richness carried through. Added sugar is not declared, and the style sits firmly on the smooth, dessert leaning side rather than the dry, spirit forward end of rum. The whisky cask twist gives it a point of difference, a gentle introduction to peat for rum drinkers who want sweetness with a savoury, smoke tinged edge.