Sample X (The Rum Mercenary - Kintra) Clarendon Single Cask 14 Year Old is a high ester molasses rum from Jamaica. The Clarendon distillery is capable of producing many styles of rum, from the lightest to the heaviest. While its column rums are used in many blends around the world, its pot-still rums are known under the Monymusk brand.
The single cask we're interested in today is a heavy rum, and therefore more akin to a Monymusk. Long-fermented and still-distilled, it offers powerful, typically Jamaican aromas. Aged for 14 years in bourbon barrels, it was bottled in Europe by two independent bottlers.
Nico's tasting notes
The nose of this rum is concentrated to perfection, with a serious yet exotic character. The oak is rich and elegant, its liveliness pleasing and providing a solidly aromatic structure. The oak becomes increasingly present, and a resinous, tannic side emerges.
With aeration, you get past this very pronounced woodiness, to catch a glimpse of well-concentrated fruit. More precisely, fruit pastes of the exotic kind, very jammy and reduced to a powerful juice. Guava, apricot, pear and fresh pineapple come through...
The palate is astringent on the attack, with tannins that take hold of the taste buds and palate. A very vegetal and medicinal side emerges, even moving towards camphor and encaustic. Geranium and its very strong aromatic concentration immediately come to mind, before giving way to dense fruit pastes.
The finish is spicier and even quite powerful. The woody tannins disperse their apple notes over the long finish.
"A very woody rum, which details its tannins in fruity nuances..."
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