TCRL 2012

Transcontinental Rum Line bottled this 2012 Guyanese rum as a single cask, a nine year old from the Demerara family released at a notably high cask strength. The still is not named on the label, so the character sits in the lighter, chocolate and dried fruit register of the Diamond side rather than the heavy oil of the wooden pot marques. It is bottled unsweetened.

Molasses based and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it noses on dried fruit, tropical fruit, roast and dark chocolate, then carries chocolate, dried fruit, a mild edge and a creamy texture onto the palate before a finish of dark chocolate, vanilla, dried fruit and confectionery. Despite a hefty 63.7% the rum reads soft and dessert like rather than fierce, with the chocolate and dried fruit doing the talking. A rich, sweet tasting but unsweetened Demerara that hides its proof well, made for slow sipping with a little water to open it up.