We are delighted to present the fourth cuvee in the Private Garden collection bottled by Swell de Spirits.
This molasses rum, distilled in 2005 by Trinidad Distillers Limited, was aged for 10 years in the tropical climate of Trinidad, then for 8 years in a continental climate.
Incidentally, when Mika suggested this TDL, there were only a few drops left at the bottom of a sample. It was so intense that we signed up straight away. A full sample we received later, which the whole team were able to taste, confirmed our decision.
This brut de fût rum has been bottled without cold filtration or addition, in an edition of around 320 (exact number to be confirmed).
Nico's tasting notes
On the nose, a small salad of exotic fruits emerges delicately at first, on tiptoe, pushed harder and harder by a coppery blast that ends up pushing the door wide open. The latter now straddles an intensely gourmand American oak, with tender vanilla fibers and toasty, caramelized bark.
With aeration, the exotic fruits concentrate into a rich paste, enhanced by a coppery, almost tarry edge, typical of Trinidad rums. Toasted and caramelized nuts feed on these dried fruits, resulting in a rum that is both massive and harmonious.
The palate is a concentrated, fruity bonbon that seems to climb indefinitely in intensity. We first open an American oak case, with vanilla and coconut milk, for a first contact of red and black fruits. Quince and guava paste then spread across the palate, before delivering a few roasted and coppery touches, like a jam well reduced in a cauldron.
The finish focuses on toasty, lightly varnished oak, and the coppery side of fruit pastes settles in with length.
"A fine demonstration of what Trinidad's style has to offer, with remarkable coherence and fade..."
