The Duchess Uitvlugt 27 1993

A single cask Uitvlugt 1993 from The Duchess, drawn from a now-closed Guyanese estate whose marques survive on the heritage stills at Diamond. Uitvlugt ran a Savalle column, giving a cleaner, fruitier and more refined style than the wooden pot stills, and 27 years of ageing have layered considerable depth onto that lighter base.

Maturated from molasses in ex-bourbon wood at 50.1%, it noses on honey, roasted nuts and fruit, then delivers a waxy texture carrying nuttiness, tobacco, pepper and oak, with a long finish of roasted wood, tannin and dark chocolate. Unsweetened and bottled at cask strength, it shows the dry, complex side of old Guyana without the brute force of the heaviest marques, the waxy mouthfeel and honeyed sweetness keeping it drinkable. A rewarding step up for drinkers moving from younger Foursquare or Diamond toward serious age.