TBRC Secret Distillery #10

That Boutique-y Rum Company, the UK bottler curated by Peter Holland and known for honest no-additive single casks under playful labels, drew this Secret Distillery #10 from an undisclosed Mauritius producer. It is made from molasses rather than cane juice, so it sits outside the agricole tradition despite its Indian Ocean origin.

Matured eleven years in ex-bourbon oak as a single cask, it leans sweet and tropical: a nose of coconut, vanilla and caramel, a palate of coconut, praline and vanilla, and a finish that carries the coconut and praline through, with a thread of almond and citrus. The flavour is soft and dessert-like even though, in keeping with the bottler's approach, there is no added sugar; the sweetness reads as cask-derived. At 61.7% the cask strength gives it weight, so a little water helps, but the easy coconut-vanilla character makes it an approachable high-proof sipper.