TBRC Secret Distillery #6

That Boutique-y Rum Company, the no-additive UK house curated by Peter Holland, presents this undisclosed El Salvador distillery as a single cask, thirteen years old and bottled unsweetened at a full 57.8%. It is a Spanish-style rum given an English-rum treatment, dry and at strength rather than soft and rounded down.

The ex-bourbon cask sets the tone with coconut, vanilla, butter and baking spice on the nose, a palate of tropical fruit, vanilla, roast and oak, and a finish of caramel, roasted notes, dark chocolate and wood. Varnish, nuts and light tropical fruit fill it out, and the alcohol integrates well for the proof, taking water happily. With no added sugar and plenty of character for the price, it works neat or in a bold cocktail, and several drinkers flag it as strong value when it turns up on offer.