Silver Seal Enmore Demerara 1986

Silver Seal, the collector-respected Italian house from Modena, bottled this 1986 Demerara from the Enmore estate with 21 years of age. The marque sits in the contested Enmore and Versailles wooden-still territory, and tasting notes point toward that old Versailles or KFM character, so the reliable read is the wooden pot still profile: dark, woody and concentrated.

Matured in ex-bourbon and bottled at 55%, the strength is used for depth, not heat. It layers dried fruit, tobacco and dark chocolate over roasted wood, leather and coffee, with the kind of long, slow finish that comes from decades in cask. This is firmly a bottle for seasoned drinkers who want an old, dark Demerara to sip patiently, and one of the harder vintages to find a direct comparison for.