Kill Devil (Hunter Laing) 1997 Guyana 18-Year

You’re not gulping this down. Smooth, pungent, aged. Nice.

Ever been to Oceanic Arts in Los Angeles? It's chock full of bamboo, thatch, reeds, and grass matting. This rum tastes like their warehouse smells. It tastes old, and, in a non-offensive way, a little musty. Pot still, touch of heat in the mouth. Nose of grass & cane. Demerara sugar.

Nose: Lots of wood straight of the bat, and some nail varnish, spirity. On to fresh cut grass in the summer, even hay maybe, white flowers (Lily of the Valley, Jasmine, Sweet Pea) and sugar cane – almost agricole like. There are some blanched almonds, apples/cider, apricot, a little bit of spent coffee ground and some briney seaside notes. It’s all very light, fragrant, fresh and summery. Sitting here nosing this it’s a bit odd, as it’s really big on wood at first encounter but then the floral notes really dominate, then all of a sudden there is a massive hit of wood cinnamon – like pure cinnamon stick and then a bit of unsweetened vanilla iced cinnamon bun, if such a thing as unsweetened pastries existed!

Palate: Light body and mouth-feel, almost shimmers over the top of your tongue. Very floral, as in the nose, raw sugar cane juice, rosewater, under-ripe green banana, and a touch of light honey/thinned out golden syrup. Green apples and some dried apricots, maybe some elderberries too. There is a tartness like gooseberry or rhubarb lurking around in the middle. The briney notes from the nose come out with a hint of olive, maybe only even olive oil actually, light licorice and eventually some woody spices. Actually, no where near as much oak on the palate as I expected given the initial nose.

Finish: Medium. Actually fairly robust given the palate, quite some baking spice/woody notes with some nutmeg, cinnamon, marzipan and a little bit of fragrant clove but still the flowers remain. It’s still really quite grassy all the way through and that’s what it ends on. Despite the oak on the nose it never really quite dries or becomes bitter and stays lovely and light.

More here:
https://rumtastic.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/uitvlugt-18-year-old-1997-kill-devil-review/