St. Nicholas Abbey 5 Years old Single Cask

St Nicholas Abbey is the boutique Barbados estate built around a 1658 Jacobean great house, where rum was revived in 2006. Unusually for the island it works from cane syrup rather than molasses, crushed on a restored steam mill and run through a pot-and-column still into ex-bourbon oak. This single cask is estate-bottled at a full 60% and left unsweetened, in line with the island-aged, additive-free stance the estate backs.

At five years the wood is young but the cane-juice base gives a bright, fruity lift, vanilla, citrus and dried fruit on the nose, then peppery cinnamon, creme brulee and barrel on the palate. The finish is spicy and warm with nutmeg and pepper. Thick and oily in texture, it carries its strength well and offers everything Barbados can do, citrus, spice and toasted wood, in a powerful, characterful sipper.