As I made clear in my review of the Hampden 6 yo, I know nothing about Jamaican rum. I know even less about Demerara rum. And so I have nothing to say by way of introduction to this 25 yo rum from the Enmore distillery in Guyana except that it was bottled by K&L in California for their Faultline label and is long sold out. If you know more, please write in below.

Enmore 25, 1989, Demerara Rum (51.3%; Faultline; from a sample from a friend)

Nose: Overripe bananas with brown sugar and caramel. Spicier on the second sniff with cinnamon and clove. Gets a little varnishy as it sits and there’s some dried paint in there too. Caramel is the top note with time and there’s a mildly smoky/leafy note too now. A little sweeter with water. 

Palate: Very spicy arrival and there’s a very bready quality to it too. Nice mouthfeel and very drinkable at full strength. On the second sip it’s even breadier—and it’s dark rye bread in particular that I’m tasting. With time there’s a hint of the funk from the Hampden 6 but only a hint—just some faint gasoline somewhere in the distance. Gets funkier and more acrid with time, with aniseed and a bit of dill popping up as well. More herbal and more bready with water.

Finish: Medium. The spicy notes ease out; no other real sign of the oak after 25 years. Much more aniseed here too with water.

Comments: This is very nice and a far less extreme and more approachable rum than that monster of a 6 yo. I have to say though, with my generally uninformed, whisky-biased palate, that I wouldn’t pay $200 for this. For that price there’s far greater pleasure to be found for me in the whisky world, if not at 25 years of age.

Rating: 87 points.

Thanks to Sku for the sample!