Planteray 2016 (Rum & Co Edition)

This Rum & Co edition is a Cuban single cask bottled by Maison Ferrand, the house usually associated with openly dosed Plantation and Planteray rums. Here the approach is the opposite, an eight year old from a 2016 vintage with no added sugar and no extra finish, presenting Cuban distillate at slightly elevated strength and full honesty.

Column distilled from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon, then bottled at 44.9% unsweetened, it is herbal and tobacco led with young wood and milk chocolate on the nose, carrying tobacco, apple and a herbal edge onto the palate. Without dosage to round it, the alcohol stays prominent and the young oak shows through, so it reads dry and spirit-forward rather than smooth. A characterful, undosed Cuban single cask for drinkers who want the bare spirit, with the caveat that the proof and youth make it a touch raw.