Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific 20 Year Bourbon Cask. Finally the team over at Dead Reckoning Rum have released a rum outside of Australia. Rum fans in mainland Europe and the UK (if you can negotiate the horrors of Brex-shit) will now be able to source a Dead Reckoning release.

There are actually two Dead Reckoning Rum’s available in the European market – this one and a 10 Year Old also from South Pacific Distillery.

Dead Reckoning have previously released a rum from the South Pacific Distillery, Fiji which was aged for 11 years. You can find my review here.

Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific 20 Year Bourbon Cask is a Limited Edition Single Barrel release. I have bottle number 153 of only 220 bottles. It has been released at Cask Strength of 68% ABV. It has been Tropically Aged in Fiji for 20 years in ex-Bourbon cask. The rounded stubby style bottle keeps up the understated black and white colour scheme of previous Dead Reckoning bottlings. It is sealed with a chunky wooden topped synthetic cork stopper. As usual information on the actual liquid in the bottle makes up most of the bottles label. Rather than fairy tales.

To add further interest this is also 100% Pot Still rum. It is non-chill filtered with no additives or colouring.

So straight away it is ticking a lot of boxes for what Rum fans are looking for at present. South Pacific isn’t as fashionable as say Hampden or Caroni but the rums from this distillery have a lot of similarities with both.

Previously when reviewing rum from the South Pacific Distillery I have found that once the rums get into double digits in terms of age, they do seem to become more rounded and less “fiery”. The younger offerings can be a bit hitty-miss and sometimes don’t meld well together.

If you are looking to purchase a bottle of this rum then it is available here. I can vouch for the store and Richard the owner is a great bloke and will bend over backwards to get people their rum. The rum retails at €175 for a 700ml bottle. From what I understand it is selling pretty well and Richard has re-ordered from the distributor. So you might need to move quickly for a bottle.

I don’t think there is much else to tell you all about this rum so I may as well get stuck in………….

The nose is very bourbon-esque with a lot of white oak and vanilla. It’s quite Foursquare esque as well. There are hints of Pineapple, Red Apple and Banana.

Beneath this is a strong medicinal note – Navy Tablet and Menthol cigarettes. A slight tarry-ness and a little diesel oil.

That said it has a really nice balance to it and by South Pacific standards its pretty easy going. Kind of…..

Sipped it is quite fierce – as expected sipping something at Cask Strength of 68% ABV. There is a lot of flavour going on. Pretty much everything from the nose transfers onto the entry. Its oaky and full of Vanilla, Pineapple, Red Apple and Banana.

It’s quite Bajan on the initial entry but it quickly moves onto the more medicinal and challenging notes the South Pacific is known for.

There is no doubt that 20 years in the barrel have mellowed and rounded the profile but there is still a fair amount of “funk” as we move onto the mid palate.

Stewed Apples and slightly fermented Pineapple chunks make an appearance on the mid palate along with bruised bananas and some creme brulee.

The oaky notes continue throughout the profile giving a nice warming flavour to the rum. I’m not sure I would have guessed that this was a South Pacific only rum it is a bit more like a blend. A very good one at that mind!

The finish is long and very warming. Again the medicinal notes come out more on the finish. Cough mixture and Peppermint mingle alongside the slightly smoky oak profile which has a very long fade out.

This is a big rum. Lot of flavour and a good amount of complexity to it. It’s one to savour and to sip slowly. I was told that the distillery has “forgotten” about this cask and they didn’t really intend it to be aged for 20 years. The Angel’s Share on this was something like 73%. Which is nuts really.

Dead Reckoning are getting a hold of some really good stuff and its great to see them getting into the European market. With releases like this I wish them every success going forward.. This is a great rum and you would pay far more from one of the more fashionable distilleries.

Great stuff.