Rum tasting at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, May 9th 2019: Rum #3 Nose: Machine oil, diesel fuel, golden syrup, fenugreek, old sandalwood sawdust, over-cooked dark fruitcake. Palate: A dryish but fairly neutral arrival with fruity hints. Very clean and crisp. The palate is much more austere and controlled than the nose might lead you to think, but it's in no way thin or disappointing, having some excellent coffee, toffee and caramel notes. There is a clean almost gin-like aspect to the palate and the texture is well balanced. Finish: Medium. The palate slowly rolls off into a slightly sweetish aftertaste. I reviewed the 50%abv Black Gate rum here a while ago but I was not much taken with it at the time. Happily, this lower strength expression is much more impressive. The nose is quite bold and interesting, not exactly estery but with an excellent complexity and more than a passing resemblance to whisky (nose this and think real hard about Bruichladdich and you'll see what I mean). There is a faintly fragrant but "oily" profile that is very agreeable. The palate is drier than I'd expected from the nose - delightfully so - it's just as interesting and enjoyable. I also noticed after some time that there is a sooty, almost smoky note to the palate and it remained in the dry glass for some time. I was not surprised to learn that this rum is produced in miniscule batches in a small hand-made direct-fired pot still. The rum is matured for 2.5 years in ex-port casks, has no colour added, and no after-distillation sweetening. This is a single-cask product, with cask BG023 having produced 205 bottles. Delightful, and very good value at the price. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)