Valinch & Mallet Beenleigh The Spirit of Art 2007

Valinch & Mallet Beenleigh The Spirit of Art 2007 is a sixteen year old single cask from the Beenleigh distillery in Australia, the country's oldest registered rum maker, bottled by the Italian independent Valinch & Mallet. Distilled on a pot still and matured in an ex bourbon barrel, it is offered unsweetened at cask strength, 57.6%, a characterful indie release that shows an unexpectedly funky side of Australian rum.

For an Australian rum it is strikingly fruity and estery, close enough to a Jamaican profile that the origin can catch drinkers out. The nose is woody, fruity and funky with esters, the palate woody and estery with roasted notes, and the finish woody, spicy and warm with a varnish edge. There is herb, tea and spice woven through, and the polished oak sits in balance with the ripe, compoted fruit rather than dominating it. The alcohol is well integrated for the strength, making it a balanced, characterful sipper for focused drinking among those who like funk without full wildness.