The Duchess Uitvlugt (Port Mourant) 27 1995

The Duchess, a Dutch independent bottler, selected this 1995 Port Mourant single cask, drawn from the double wooden pot still that defines the heaviest Demerara profile. The label carries the Uitvlugt and Port Mourant lineage of the closed estates, and at twenty seven years it has the age and structure to balance the still's oil and power. It is bottled unsweetened at cask strength.

Molasses based, matured in oak and finished in port, it noses on wood, leather, ripe peach and fruit, then carries leather, anise and liquorice across a structured palate before a nutty, spicy, anise tinged finish. There is a refined tea and liquorice backbone here, with the maritime wood in salt water note that long aged PM can show. At 56.9% the alcohol is well integrated, and the result is poised and dry rather than sweet. For drinkers who already enjoy classic Port Mourant, this adds age, depth and a polished structure that holds up neat.