Plantation Jamaica 2002

Nose: Resinous and tarry. There's an earthy, vegetal hogo funk to the nose that is fascinating and compelling. Behind that a sweet honey presence lurks. A hint of oak, tobacco and leather. Palate: A bold but soft arrival with licorice-tinged raisins in molasses. Baked root vegetables and plantains drenched with leatherwood honey. There's a lot of preserved fruit too, complex and aged, like persimmon chutney or blood orange and grapefruit marmalade. The only fault is a sugary note that seems to slowly but surely build until it becomes intrusive. Finish: Long. The flavours from the palate merge and eventually tail off to leave a sweet licorice and tobacco aftertaste, but the sugar is again too obvious. The nose is very interesting and one for rum geeks. It has a fragrant alluring hogo of the best kind - the sort of thing that makes you think "what IS that?" and keeps you coming back for another sniff. The palate is sweet but although it's complex and earthy it veers too much towards the one-note white sugar syrup flavour that seems to be present in many Plantation rums. I enjoyed this and it's making me crave a cigar something fierce, but I would have liked it even more without the sugar dosage. "Excellent" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)