Valinch & Mallet Blended Rum 1993

Valinch & Mallet Blended Rum 1993 is a 26 year single cask blend from the Italian-rooted bottler, pairing heavy Guyanese Demerara with Jamaican distillate, drawn from a 1993 vintage and bottled unsweetened at 53.6%. It sits firmly in the serious, contemplative tier, a long-aged marriage of two of rum's most characterful origins.

The Demerara side brings roasted wood, coffee, dark chocolate and burnt sugar, sitting halfway between Guyana and Jamaica, while the Jamaican component keeps things lively with tropical fruit and a touch of ester funk. Cedar, cinnamon and varnish round out a nose with real depth, and the palate runs ample and dry, drifting bitter with toffee and dried fruit through a very long finish. A vanilla sweetness keeps it from austerity, but this is an old-school, dry-leaning sipper for experienced palates who love Enmore-style Demerara and Hampden funk in the same glass.