What is it? This is a blended rum put together by Hunter Laing for their Kill Devil range of rums. The blend, at least as far this particular bottling is concerned, is comprised of aged rums from Guyana and Jamaica; there are no details of specifically which distilleries these base rums come from or any details on ageing – I have spoken to Hunter Laing about it but naturally (for commercial reasons) they cannot divulge their blend recipe, which is fair enough. I must note at this point, that the rum is actually quite dark, I know that it’s not very old and Hunter Laing have not added any colouring – this is because some of the rum (I’ll take a guess at the Guyanese aspect) has been coloured at source when it was put into cask. DDL are quite known for doing this so it’s no surprise, please be re-assured that HL have not coloured it.

No details provided on chill-filtration, it has been coloured by DDL at source and it’s bottled at 57% abv.

Sugar? None will have been added by Hunter Laing, but I can’t confirm lack of sugar as it’s possible that DDL have had a little play with the source rum – they sometimes coat the inside of casks with molasses prior to filling and this would add sugar into the rum when it ages…..I really need to get one of those hydrometer thingies.

Nose: Very hot on the nose, don’t get too far into the glass with this! Immediately very funky; blackened bananas, pineapple cube sweets, tinned apricots and some lime zest. Probably young Hampden making up a large part of the Jamaican aspect of the blend I’d guess. Next to this funk sits in some deeper, murkier, dirtier notes from the Demerara rum with shoe polish, coffee beans, black eating liquorice and charcoal, maybe some smoky tobacco in there too. There is a little lift of mint the more I nose this which freshens it up.

Palate: Hot, as you’d expect. Good weighted mouthfeel and coats well. Feels a little sweet at first. Ah yes, here we go, almost certain we’re talking young Hampden in here, it blends better on the palate then the nose with a toffee’d banana, chocolate covered coffee bean and pineapple fudge. There is a salty lime note through it which cuts any sweetness, a touch of engine oil (well, what the smell tastes like, if you get me), a little pine sap and a beef brisket that is smoking on a BBQ 2 doors down.

Finish: Medium, just about. Pretty much a combination of the nose and the palate, little newness added here; black coffee, some dark chocolate maybe, tobacco smoke, a little liquorice, leather maybe and plenty of over ripe bananas at the end.

Thoughts? Quite intense, young, fruity and weighty – a good Navy overproof blend. It’s fruitier and lighter than many “Navy” blends out there but it does have those dirtier notes too. If I’m being honest I’m a bit disappointed in the finish, it’s not very long nor does it add anything more to what’s already going on. I imagine this would be very good in a cocktail or with cola, and frankly it’s also pretty good sipped.

I’m sure we’ve got Hampden and heavy variant of Enmore in here as the 2 main rums, at a young age, maybe some Port Mourant too for good measure. Given that, the abv and the price of around £35, I think it’s a good buy and value for money. If I was after a really good overproof navy blend this is exactly what I’d pick up again.