Origin R. Enmore 1988

Origin R. bottled this 1988 Enmore as a single cask, drawn from the estate whose wooden Coffey still is the last operating example in the world. Enmore usually sits on the lighter, more elegant side of the Demerara range, but this twenty six year old has been driven darker and more roasted by long maturation, while staying balanced at just over 50%. It is offered unsweetened at cask strength.

Distilled from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it noses on prunes, roast, wood and herbal spice, then carries liquorice, barrel and roasted notes across a dry, woody palate before a smoky finish of wood, raisin and herbs. There is dark caramel and graphite here too, the marks of a long aged continental Enmore. The dry, tannic, intensely spiced character rewards attention, and at 50.4% it pours richly without the heat of higher proof. A dark, woody Enmore for those who enjoy old, dry Demerara with roast and spice to spare.