TBRC Diamond Diamond Distillery (Savalle Still) SVL 2004

That Boutique-y Rum Company, the playful but honest UK bottler, drew this 19 Year Old as a single ex-bourbon cask from Diamond, a 2004 distillate off the Savalle still. The Savalle is a French metal multi-column still that gives the cleanest, most versatile Demerara spirit, and here long ageing has built a dry, oak-driven character at a cask strength 57.4%, with no additives.

The nose runs coffee, dried fruit, leather and molasses, and the palate brings dark chocolate, coffee and dried fruit with a bitter edge. The finish carries coffee, dried fruit, caramel and burnt sugar. This is a rich, dense and quite challenging rum that opens up best late in a session rather than at the start, the wood gripping firmly with only gentle sweetness behind it. The Savalle's clean base has taken on real weight and dark fruit over nearly two decades. A serious, honest Guyana single cask that rewards slow drinking and a little patience from an experienced palate.