Rum Nation 2019 2011

Rum Nation 2019 is a Barbados rum from the Italian house Rum Nation, known for well judged regional bottlings with a softer, more accessible profile. This 8 year old release, from a 2011 distillate, sits in that gentle, easygoing idiom rather than the island's strictly dry tradition.

Built on molasses rum, matured in ex-bourbon oak and bottled at 40%, it is openly sweetened, which shapes its soft vanilla, coconut, caramel and butterscotch character, with light dried fruit on the nose and a touch of oak, smoke and tobacco through the finish. The dosage keeps it smooth and rounded, and the profile shows the coconut and vanilla side of Barbados rum without much weight or funk. Honesty matters here, this is a sweet, smooth sipper rather than a dry one, and it makes a gentle stepping stone for drinkers moving on from Spanish style rums.