Velier Saint James Brut de fût 2001

Velier, the Genoese house behind some of the most sought after aged rum, selected this single 2001 vintage from Saint James and bottled it at full strength after eighteen years of tropical ageing. Distilled from fresh cane juice on the estate's creole column still, it is an agricole that has spent its whole life maturing in the Caribbean heat, where the angel's share runs high and the oak works fast.

The long tropical ageing pushes it well beyond a typical blanc, with prunes, red fruit and vanilla on the nose giving way to a palate of toasted oak, baking spice, tobacco and dark chocolate. At 50.3% it is intense but well knit, the wood prominent without flattening the fruit, and the finish lingers on tobacco, spice and licorice. Bottled unsweetened from ex bourbon casks, it is a contemplative pour to be taken slowly, neat.