What is it? Column still rum, from molasses, distilled at the Travellers distillery in Belize. This is a single cask rum (cask number 33) with the mark SFBT and filled in November 2005, it was then matured for 11 years and bottled by Whisky Broker on 9th February 2017. My bottle is number 12 of 262 produced.

There are no details on aging but going off the colour, abv, nose and taste I’d say this has spent a lot of it’s 11 years maturing in the tropics.

Not chill filtered, not coloured (at bottling) and bottled at full proof of 66.1% (!).

Sugar? No

For the purposes of tasting, and my nose hairs, I’ve watered this. I’ll be honest; it’s dangerously drinkable at full whack but I want to get a bit more out of it and 66% is really going to masacre my nose and palate. I’ve taken it down to about 57-60%, as through experimenting I’ve found that it totally falls apart once you get below 55% (ish). It’s a tough one to balance right, so be warned.

Nose: Heh, give this to someone and tell them that it was a 12 year old, full proof, bourbon and they’d not question you. We’re so deep in Kentucky it’s scary; massive oak, pencil shavings, fresh sawn planks and coconut. Gingerbread, ginger, clove, nutmeg and loads of dry roasted peanuts. Honey glazed meat being cooked in a smoker, BBQ sauce and some vanilla under it all. It’s pretty big and in your face, but there is some fresh complexity that under cuts it; fragrant flowers (lilac, lilly, that sort of thing), some warm hay and even a tiny bit of tar.

Palate: Medium to full mouth feel. Ok, it’s hot, lets not beat about the bush here, but there is loads of flavour too, it’s not just all about the booze. Sweetish delivery, low cocoa dark chocolate (60% stuff like Bourneville), freshly brewed Columbian coffee, honey cake, gingerbread – no, Lebkuchen actually (more honey, more spices), some sweet cane and some banana flavoured candy. Vanilla turns up and then leaves coconut as it moves to the finish.

Finish: Long. I mean, it’s a big abv and that really sits on your tongue. I am sure that this is not a barrel proof bourbon? I’d swear it was! Big coconut, vanilla, hot ginger root, raw oak and quite tannic – the sweetness from the palate goes and leaves your mouth dry and hot. There is a lingering taste of smoky BBQ brisket and walnuts as it tails off.

Thoughts? It’s a sledgehammer. There is very little subtlety to this, it’s a glass of massive flavours delivered with a cannon. Do I like it? Hell yeah. There is a time for fruity high ester rum, there is a time for subtle and flowery rum, there is even a time for sugar topped stuff….variety is the spice of life and sometimes you just want your mouth detonated. This was about £46, and a cracking purchase. Oh, and they still have this in stock at Whisky Broker if you fancy having your head taken off.