Background: bought this on the recommendation of a few friends whose tastes I trust. Also, this is /u/Sea_Industry_7312’s favourite spirit of 2020, so that’s gotta count for something.

Nose: thick and dense, with great penetrative power; a massive hit of honey, paired with baskets of mangoes and bananas; crystallised pineapple; green and pink guavas; lemon and lime cordial; kumquats and mandarin oranges; fruity soft drinks the likes of Kickapoo and Asian China apple; apple- and grape-flavoured bubblegum; then comes a slight milky funk; milk custard; fried milk; propolis; sweet-smelling flowers -- gardenia and jasmine, mainly -- bring elegance and tranquility to the picture, and dial up the contrast against the barrel influence; the undertones from the barrel are robust and integrate well with the distillate character, forming tantalising dessert notes; baked shortcrust pastry; butter cookies; dark chocolate shavings; blackforest cake; gingerbread; the base notes are savoury, earthy and grassy, consisting of honey glazed smoked ham, salty liquorice, black truffles, dried seaweed, tobacco and Chinese tonic soup.

Palate: like the nose, the palate has a remarkable structure; the core is indubitably tropical, garnished with notes of citrus and pom fruits; crystallised pineapple and mango; fresh passion fruit and calamansi; sweet apple cider; the development “darkens” progressively; cane syrup; fried coconut shavings with gula melaka; baking spices; Christmas cake with icing; overbaked confectionaries like pineapple tarts and coconut tarts; toffee; dried dates and figs; candied berries in hot chocolate; it seems to have incorporated the the elements of some of the best bourbons, ryes, Irish whiskeys and Bajan rums.

Finish: very long; starts out with savoury funk and a touch of brine; stir-fried basil pork with olive bits; Thai fish sauce; pickled green chilli; then earthy, grassy and herbal notes surface; liquorice; gui ling gao, a Chinese herbal jelly; forest fire; it gets much more appetising towards the end of the finish; minty and citrusy, like a Mojito; buttery pastries and confectioneries such as brioche and butter cookies; for the aftertaste, we have more liquorice, cola, sarsaparilla, Mentos and an encore of the fruity front-palate.

Conclusion: this is a hefty rum that keeps its shape, and a demonstration of how the distillate can work in perfect harmony with the barrel. The old Velier demeraras are exemplars of a style unlikely to be replicated, and they deserve praise just because of that, but I am increasingly confident they are not the rums for me. With the prices at which you can get the Karaya, it is not far-fetched to declare that I am yet living in the Golden Age of rums. The best Port Mourant I have ever tasted.

Score (assuming a normal distribution with mean 50): 92/100

Image Courtesy of u/zoorado. 

u/zoorado