Mezan 2008 Guyana Diamond 12-Year

This doesn't taste like rum. This smells and tastes like a typical Scotch whisky, which I don't drink. Nothing like the other Demeraras I've had before. Makes for a pretty nice Dark'n'stormy though, but what a waste...

Big thanks goes to Rhum Attitude for providing a proper rum tasting experience during the global lockdown. Our tasting continues onwards with Mezan Guyana 2008. Decent bottle and label design. Hay color. Extremely strong esters, rubber, glue and alcohol to your nose and palate when neat sipped. Since there are no added sugars, the burn is harsh at the end.

Cask: ex-Bourbon
Distillery: DIAMOND
Distillation: double pot still
Alc/vol: 46%
Distilled: 2008
Bottled: 2020
Tropical ageing: 3 years
European ageing: 9 years

What you would expect from Mezan's Guyanese rums. It is a full flavoured Demerara with high ester levels. Not a huge amount of oak, which allows the nice rounded, sweet fruit to shine through. And it's so smooth, even at 46%. It manages to retain a wonderful balance between being full bodied and without being too heavy (if that makes sense).

On a personal note, I am finding that my rums tastes are changing a bit. I am enjoying Agricole's a lot more than I used to, on top of all the usual fully oaked molasses based rums. So I'm not entirely surprised that I am now also enjoying Demerara rums more.