Background
Rum from Clarendon distillery in Jamaica tends to be on the lower end of the ester spectrum. While distilleries like Hampden, Long Pond, and New Yarmouth are producing distillate with upwards of 1600 gr/hL AA, Clarendon caps out at about 550. As a big fan of rums in that mid-ester range, I was very excited to learn that an unaged bottling of Clarendon’s highest ester marque, MLC, was being sold by independent bottler The Nectar of the Daily Drams. This rum was pot distilled from molasses and bottled without barrel aging at 59%.
Tasting
On the nose, I get underripe strawberry, grapefruit, freshly plucked leaves, bitter almond, Sichuan peppercorn, and SweeTarts. It has this sour quality that’s difficult to describe, almost like poor quality vinegar – this isn’t to say the nose is poor, that’s just the note which comes to mind.
Like many rums I’ve tasted in this category, the palate is a big, weird fruit salad. There’s strawberry, green apple, green grapes, grapefruit, and underripe banana all soaked in vinegar and lime juice. Finally, it’s topped off with more Sichuan peppercorns and SweeTarts.
Verdict
An impressive offering from Clarendon. It’s similar in style to unaged expressions of HLCF, STC♥E, and NYE-HM, yet also clearly distinct from these. The tart fruit and vinegar flavors took a little getting used to, but I ended up enjoying them. If you’re a fan of Clarendon’s aged expressions or estery Jamaican rum in general, this is definitely worth a try. (7/10)