Review: Plantation Single Cask Guyana 2008 Rum

So here is another, so far the last I have, of the special series of Plantation single cask (cask and bottle numbers on the label) rums. This one, labeled “Guyana 2008”, is on the expensive side at $85/750ml bottle. The other two, the Barbados XO ($50), and Peru 2004 ($85), I have also also reviewed. There are many more rums in this “single cask collection”. I’m sure I will never get to try them all.

What we’ve got here is 47.1% ABV aged 9+ tropical years in ex bourbon casks, and 1 year in France in Ferrand (the label says chestnut and accacia wood) casks. The label says “pot still”. The color is a medium amber, a nice cross between copper and brass colors. Legs are sort of thin medium and fall medium fast down the glass.

The aromas here are heady. I love taking deep droughts from the glass. Alcohol in the background smells sweet with no acetone or varnish notes. I get hints of brown sugar, prune, tobacco, and a deep chocolate-coffee mix that reminds me of Kahlua. These are very rich aromas.

Flavors like the aromas, but almost not there at all. This rum is dry, barely sweet at first, yet sweetness is there at the same time. What a contrast from the Barbados XO that tasted so much like it smelled (see review linked above). This by contrast has rich sweet aromas and only a hint of the same sorts of sweetness in the flavors but yet they are all there somewhere. It is creamy, moderately, from the first sip, and has a nice long barely there but sweet aftertaste. There is only the slightest bit of heat in this one when first swallowed, but it hangs around for a while. Good for a cold afternoon.

Remember this claims to be a pure pot-still rum, fermented for a week (from the label) which I think is pretty long for a rum, and yet there is no funk here what-so-ever. This sort of subtlety is where my rum taste seems to be going. This Plantation Guyana is absolutely marvelous like some of the Foursquare’s I’ve reviewed in the past. I notice that most are in the $80+ range. Maybe if I drink slowly I won’t notice!

I have not in any of these reviews said anything about the bottle labels. They are beautiful (particularly the front — pictures in all the reviews) and have a lot of information (both front and back). They don’t say everything you might want to know, but much more than most. Definitely collectibles if you are into such things.

So wow! If you can afford it, try it. A standard setter for rich aromas and subtle flavors!