TBRC Clarendon 2004

That Boutique-y Rum Company, the UK bottler known for honest no-additive releases and playful labels, selected this 2004 Clarendon, aged thirteen years in ex-bourbon and bottled at cask strength 55.4%. Clarendon is a Clarendon parish workhorse whose pot still marks can be deeply funky, and this is a fairly light-coloured, mid-aged example of the house.

Distilled on pot still from molasses, it noses on vanilla, baking spice, ester and a candied note, with light roasted wood, faint smoke, earth and fruit. The palate is sweet with tropical fruit and wood over an alcoholic edge, the finish metallic and waxy with burnt and tobacco notes. At 55.4% it leans toward a continental, slightly flatter shape, the funk present but not pungent, a mid-weight Jamaican that some find a touch reserved on character. Unsweetened and bottled at cask strength, this is a fruit-and-spice Clarendon for drinkers who want an honest, full-proof single distillery release with the marque's waxy, estery signature intact.