South Pacific Plantation Islands – Single Cask Kilchoman Finish 2009

South Pacific Plantation Islands Single Cask Kilchoman Finish is a Fiji rum from the 2009 vintage given an unusual whisky cask finish by Maison Ferrand, using ex-Kilchoman casks from the Islay distillery. The result is a deliberate crossover bottling, a single cask at 49.6% that leans hard into smoke, so it is squarely for drinkers who enjoy peated spirits rather than those wary of whisky finishes.

The Kilchoman influence dominates, bringing peat, iodine and campfire smoke that frame the rum's fermented molasses base and tropical fruit underneath, with nuts and caramel filling out a long, intense palate. The South Pacific distillate keeps fruit and length in play, but the peat is unmistakably in charge, phenolic and even a touch bacon-like through the finish. It is intense and very whisky-forward, a fun and divisive pour: thrilling for peat lovers chasing smoky rum, and likely too much for anyone who finds whisky finishes intrusive.