Rum Nation Enmore Small Batch Rare Rums 1997

Rum Nation, the well-regarded Italian house, released this 23 Year Old Enmore in its Rare Rums tier, the unsweetened end of its range. Enmore is the wooden Coffey, the last operating still of its kind in the world, usually elegant and woody, but here the twist is a peated whisky cask finish, which sends this Demerara somewhere unusual at a cask strength 57.6%.

The nose runs woody and vanilla-laced with tropical fruit and banana, and the palate is roasted, woody and spicy with more tropical fruit, before the finish turns earthy and peaty, the whisky cask leaving clear smoke and a malty edge. The texture is oily and full, with orange and spice woven through. This is a genuinely polarising bottle, the smoky finish either completing or interrupting the Enmore character depending on the drinker. For anyone who loves peated single malts and is curious about Demerara, it offers a clear, deliberate crossover, the elegant wooden Coffey spirit wrapped in woodsmoke.