Rum tasting at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, May 9th 2019: Rum #5 Nose: Orange peel, hazelnut, honeycomb, brown sugar, wintergreen, treacle, ash, frangipani, vanilla blossom, sultanas, mango, and a very slight hogo (just enough to make it interesting)! A quite perfect and marvellously complete nose. Palate: Sweet dark fruits on the arrival - plums, red berries, figs. The fruity profile expands in complexity as it develops with a wide range of fresh and dried fruits appearing - pear, apple, banana, guava, pineapple, mango, papaya. No astringent or young flavours, everything is measured, mature and sweet but never veering into syrupy or simple sugary notes - in fact it is remarkably dry and elegant. A mild citrus and peppermint note lurks around the periphery, along with menthol and butterscotch. Quite fascinating. Finish: Long. Subtle and demi-sec, the enormous palate slowly rumbles away like thunder rolling over distant hills. This is a particularly fine rum that would be a formidable aperitif. Its origin was a small batch of exceptional ex-bourbon casks containing Trinidad pot and column still spirit that were filled in 2002. The casks spent 10 years resting in Trinidad before being transferred to France and dumped to Pierre Ferrand ex-cognac casks. The spirit then received a final 12 months finishing in red pineau casks. This tasting was from bottle 42, drawn from cask 4. As this rum is exclusively available from 2 outlets in Sydney (The Oak Barrel and the Burrow Bar) it is unlikely that most will be able to obtain a bottle, however the good news is that I have tasted other Plantation Trinidad bottlings from the early 2000s that have received similar maturation and all have been of this standard, or very close, and many are still available. If you see one, don't hesitate. "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)