In the year 1987, Jamaica celebrated its 25th anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom, and for that very poignant occasion, @jwncorporate bottled an aged rum that was laid down on the very same year of independence - in 1962. Luckily for us, examples of this bottle still exist, and I was able to get a sample from the 2021 @therumshow’s Rarest of the Rare tasting pack.

There is very little information about this rum that can be found, but thankfully for Luca Gargano, he did share many interesting snippets about it, the first being that this was rum distilled from the Appleton distillery, to which Wray & Nephew had acquired in 1916, and is a blend of pot still and traditional column still distillate. Luca also thought that Dr Joy Spence, who had joined Appleton Estate in 1981, before attaining the tirle of Master Blender in 1997, had a role to play in the blending process of this bottle. The last piece of news, which I think would be most exciting of all, is that this 25-year-old commemorative bottling was derived from the exact same batch of rums that were later bottled in 2012 by @appletonestateja as a 50-year-old rum to celebrate Jamaica’s 50 years of independence. What we have here then is a rum laden with history, and intrinsically tied to the heart of Jamaica.

One the nose, it is quite an orange-bomb if I may say so. A very fresh and uplifting style of rum, with lots of bright, citrusy fruits, marmalade, honey, and a bit of mint. It does have a slight depth to it, just enough oak to remind you of its quarter-of-a-century tropical aging in Jamaica.

The palate is somewhat tame when compared to the nose. Smooth, syrupy, citrus of course, toffee-apple, and just those little flashes of funk and mustiness in the middle to give it that slight edge in complexity. On the back palate is a bit more spice, herbals, a dab of bitterness, but all kept in check with pleasant orange-y sweetness that extends all the way into the finish.

When placed against Appleton rums of today, I might probably struggle to say that this was better by far. It comes across rather mellow, a bit on the quiet side of things, despite its venerable age. But perhaps this also shows us how much Appleton rums have come along, with some of them being right at the top of my list, such as the second iteration of the 30-year-old and the 1984 from the Heart’s Collection. I do really hope Appleton will continue their great work, producing rums that define a distinct style of quality Jamaican rums!

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu