New Yarmouth Jamaican Rum 1994, Swell de Spirits, 500ml

Looks like retro-futurism has inspired yet another excellent bottler. Talking about the label, not about the spirits. This appears to be mainly tropical ageing too. In fact, it spent 24 years in the tropics, then 3 years in Europe for a good rest. Now careful, these cousins of Appleton can be extremely, well, extreme and shelter up to 1600 grs ester/HLPA. Colour: honeyed amber. Poetic license, you know. Nose: no, it's not heavy at this point, rather cakey and with fudge and nougat, rather ala Appleton. You cannot not think of some good agricoles, but at 66.7%, we shan't pursue this topic before we've added water. With water: gentle and firm, certainly caney, very nice, certainly more chamber music than pure funk. Vivaldi rather than Funkadelic. Mouth (neat): indeed, it's not heavy New Yarmouth. Some nuts and burnt sugar, corn syrup, coconut, and even a feeling of bourbon but that may be the super-high strength. Nougat. With water: very good, in my book and according solely to my own taste, this is the best you could find within this style. Moist orange cake, tangerine sherbet… Finish: medium, light-style, fresh and dapper. Comments: don't get me wrong, this is no gossamer rum, if you see what I mean, but it is the easier side of Jamaica.
SGP:551 - 88 points.