Another release from Habitation Velier.  This time we are seeing Velier partnering up with Worthy Park Estate in Jamaica for this release.

First up I will help with the title for this rum.  Fortunately as well as providing us with a rather confusing and slightly obscure title, Velier have also provided us with extensive notes on the production and origin of this rum.

This is an unaged White Rum from the Worthy Park Estate, Jamaica.  Due to a three month fermentation period this rum is rich in congeners (I won’t try and explain what these are a Google Search will help you there).  It is distilled on Worthy Park’s Forsyth Pot Still.  It was distilled and bottled in 2015.

In the UK a bottle will set you back around £50 it is bottled at 57% ABV.  Presentation wise you get a nice sturdy carboard sleeve and a flask style bottle with a nice corked enclosure.  The design on the Habitation range is a bit more “contempory” than the previous Velier bottlings.

I have experienced both Velier and Worthy Park bottlings in the past and I have rarely been disappointed with either.  Worthy Park already have a Pot Still White Rum on the market in the shape of the their own Rum Bar White Overproof.  Another Italian bottler has also released an overproof white Worthy Park rum – Rum Nation.

If you aren’t familiar with Jamaican rum especially Jamaican White Overproof rum then I wouldn’t advise starting out by paying £50 for a bottle.  I’m not saying it is bad in anyway but it is very different to what a lot of people may expect from rum.  Especially White Rum.

As mentioned already this rum has a lot of congeners.  One of the things with congeners is that they add a lot of flavour to rum.  In this instance they will deliver a lot of what is called “funk”.  Jamaican “funk” is very much an acquired taste.  You may never enjoy the more robust Jamaican rums.

Luckily I do and I’m walking into this review with a pretty good idea of what to expect.  I think……..

So lets get stuck into some “funk” then.  First up as expected the rum is pretty much crystal clear.  I’ve just offered the glass to my vodka drinking wife and upon nosing I’ve been told “I’m not even trying that – that’s bloody disgusting!”

I’ll make a more reasoned assessment of the nose.  Nail varnish, bruised bananas, apricots, peaches and even maybe a touch of that cheap candy chocolate substitute you sometimes find on chocolate raisins.  It is big no sorry its huge its a huge nostril full of Jamaican funk.  However it is noticeably less grassy than the Rum Bar Overproof or Wray and Nephew White Overproof.  It seems sweeter and less vegetal.

At 57% ABV it is pretty much at my upper limit for sipping.  Sipping at this strength it is surprisingly sweet tasting.  I’m getting a lot of sugar cane sweetness and nowhere near as much ferocity as I was expecting.  It is tingling my tongue but its relatively easy going.  With a little water added it makes for a quite pleasant but relatively simple sipper.  

It doesn’t have quite as much complexity as I expected from the nose.  It seems to be missing some of the more vegetal tones you usually get with a Jamaican white overproof.  In some ways it is almost a little “refined” especially in the finish which I swear is giving me some nice oaked notes.

When I reviewed Wray and Nephew and Rum Bar Overproof I acquired quite a taste for Ting (a grapefruit soda from Jamaica) which I enjoyed with plenty of ice and the rum.  It also made some pretty funky Rum and Colas.

Clearly at £50 a bottle you may be looking for something other than a mixer.  If you do enjoy a more challenging style of rum then you probably will get plenty enjoyment out of this rum as a sipper.  I’ll probably sip a little but mix it more often or even have it in cocktails.

I think its really interesting that Velier are releasing these kinds of rums.  They seem very keen to push the category in all kinds of different directions.

This is a really well made and at times quite surprising rum.  As long as you know what you are buying before you take the plunge you should enjoy it very much.