Nil Desperandum One Second, The Third, Go Fourth, The Road North, The Premier, The Wild Muck, The Double Under, The 44 Special, The Mezcal Barrel & The Roasted Cane

Some of the rums from Nil Desperandum’s range that I managed to taste yesterday, although not pictured here is the Special from their core range (purely because Instagram only allows a maximum of ten images per post) which in my opinion was one of the better regular distillery releases I’ve had.

My favourite among the lot would be the Wild Muck which was very surprising given that I was expecting lots of hogo and funk, but instead it was rather soft, mellow, lots of toffee and vanilla from ex-bourbon oak barrel, but also an element of florals, dried apricots (which I think might be the defining characteristic in Nil Desperandum’s rums) and sweet dark raisins from the port that was soaked in the cask before aging rum.

Closely behind was the Premier - the upcoming addition to the Core Range, a blend of rums aged minimally for three years in ex-bourbon barrels emptied of sherry and port. What made it really interesting was that the nose and the palate were entirely different, the nose being slightly herbal and agave-like, quite spicy and vanilla, while the palate was an absolute peach with a little hint of the dunder funk initially, but towards the end, it becomes much rounder and sweeter, softer too, with candied apples, tangerine, and those dried apricots.

The rest of the lineup were great too, and I really enjoyed the wide range of rums, the varying flavours, and all the little experiments that @wine_and_spirit_inc and @rumapprentice have done!

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu