Worthy Park Single Estate 2006

Worthy Park, in Jamaica's Lluidas Vale, revived distilling in 2005 with a modern Forsyths double-retort pot still and works as a single estate, using its own molasses. This 2006 vintage is a Pure Single Jamaican Rum, made entirely on the pot still at one distillery, aged twelve years in ex-bourbon oak and bottled unsweetened at 56%.

Worthy Park's character is cleaner and more precise than the island's most extreme houses, its esters drawn from yeast and long fermentation rather than muck pits, which keeps the funk in check. The result here is balanced and complex, fresh and fruity on the nose with banana, tropical fruit and oak, leading to a palate of dry, spicy wood, banana and vanilla, finishing roasted and lightly caramelised. At 56% it is full of pot still power yet elegant, a contemplative sipper for drinkers who want genuine Jamaican character without tipping into a full-on funk monster, fine neat or with a splash of water.