Thompson Bros. Mount Gay Pot and Column Distilled Barbados Rum 2000

The first nose reveals a subtle veil of slightly chocolatey orange blossom. The 48.5% doesn't make itself felt, making for a finer, more mellow nose compared to the all-out brut de fût fashionable today. You can clearly put your nose to it, to find a combination of fresh, toasted coconut, sweet caramel and vanilla bean. With the aeration that does it good, I find various spices and dried fruits as in a typical Indian Ocean island market. It's gourmet. On the palate, an explosion of cooking spices, cinnamon, a hint of ginger, all mixed with a caramelized coulis. The woodiness rounds out the palate, with hints of candied orange on the walls. In the second mouth, brown sugar, toasted coconut and flambéed caramel flan. A dessert. The further down the glass I go, the fresher and more mentholated my nose becomes. A very well-orchestrated reduction, it's silky and warm on the palate, a fine olfactory success. I'd imagine it as the first in a full Barbados line-up, before attacking the behemoths of concentration at higher degrees.