Saison Reserve

Saison bottles this Reserve as a nine year Caribbean blend from pot and column stills, matured in ex-bourbon wood and presented unsweetened at 43.5%. It aims for a dry, accessible profile, though at this age the blend still reads on the young and light side.

The nose offers vanilla, oak and a spicy, alcoholic edge, the palate brings vanilla, barrel and honey over a fairly thin body, and the finish turns to brown sugar, burnt sugar and a touch of bitterness. Some drinkers find cigar smoke, chocolate and cardamom in the wood-forward middle. With no added sugar to round it out, the alcohol is not fully knit in and the overall impression is pleasant but restrained rather than deep. It lands as a straightforward, dry everyday rum, fine neat for undemanding drinking and equally at home stretched into a mixed glass.