To finish off my Cotswolds series, I have a sample of their distillery exclusive Rum cask single malt that was aged in rejuvenated French oak ex-red wine casks seasoned with Caribbean rum and bottled at 55.6% ABV. The nose starts with bananas foster, passion fruit, mango and light leather then dark chocolate covered espresso beans, pipe tobacco and toasted coconut followed by charred pineapple rings, dehydrated apricots and strawberry jam that transitions to light baking spices and polished oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy tropical fruits before a moderate bitter and sour spice that slowly fades to plantain chips, grapefruit and mango then a spicy mocha, pipe tobacco and toasted coconut followed by charred pineapple rings, dehydrated apricots and tart cherries that transitions to light baking spices, moderate black pepper and over-brewed black tea with medium ethanol burn. The finish is short with plantain chips, charred pineapple rings, tart cherries, cocoa nibs, moderate black pepper and over-brewed black tea. I saved this one for last as I’m normally a huge fan of rum flavors and thought the combination of Cotswolds tropical fruits with a rum influence would create an intense and rich tropical fruit dram with light red berries from the wine casks, but instead of a creamy sweet dram this leans more into a sour and astringent flavor profile along with a moderate spice and finishes rather tart and bitter. Overall, still a tasty dram but didn't turn out to be my favorite of the series and instead turned out to be a tie between the Founders Choice and the Peated cask.