Silver Seal Uitvlugt Demerara 1998

Silver Seal, the collector-respected Modena bottler, released this Uitvlugt Demerara 1998 as a twenty year old single cask at cask strength, 48.8 percent. It draws on the Savalle column that ran at the Uitvlugt estate, generally the refined and fruity end of Guyanese rum, bottled here unsweetened in the independent style.

Matured in ex-bourbon wood, the nose carries leather, wood, brown sugar, orange, caramel, citrus and raisin, with an oily, fresh and balanced palate of wood, light smoke, chocolate and roasted coffee. Two decades of ageing have built a deep, layered profile while the Uitvlugt base keeps it poised rather than heavy. As a dry, naturally presented single cask, it shows the elegant, fruit-and-leather side of Demerara, a well-balanced older Uitvlugt that rewards an unhurried glass.