The Duchess Bellevue 1998

Bellevue is a Marie-Galante distillery that supplies a great deal of cane juice rum to independent bottlers, and this nineteen year old from the 2008 vintage is a single cask bottled by The Duchess. Made from fresh pressed sugar cane juice and bottled at a natural 54.9%, it is a contemplative, mature agricole that takes a little time in the glass to open and reward the patient.

Distilled on a column and given long years in ex bourbon wood, it has shed any youthful sharpness for a dry, spice forward maturity. The nose runs minty, herbal and floral over dried fruit and menthol, the palate turns herbal and woody with tobacco and coffee, and the finish stays long and woody with espresso, mint and licorice. A classic aged Bellevue profile, this is one for experienced palates who like their cane juice rum dry, herbal and layered rather than sweet.