Kill Devil Guyana Aged 12 Years.  Kill Devil are a range of rums bottled by Whisky bottler Hunter-Laing.  I’ve covered them quite extensively on the site so far.

They are now bottling rums at Cask Strength.  The Kill Devil range now have rums with Red labels like these – to demonstrate Cask Strength.  Everything else presentation wise is exactly as before.

I really like the presentation of the Kill Devil rums especially the dark 3/4 bottle.  Kill Devil – much like Mezan tend to identify their rums by the Island/Country of origin.

This Guyana rum was bottled at 62.7% ABV housed in a 70cl bottle.  I recollect paying around £70 for this bottle.  It was distilled in July 2004 and is a product of the Diamond Distillery – Pot Still.  So its a single cask rum from the famous Port Mourant still.  I do not have information on the cask marque used or when it was bottled. It is one of 284 bottles.

I’ve had a few Port Mourant single cask rums aged in Europe recently.  I have found them to be very different to those bottled by Velier.  Much lighter and more “whisky” like.

In the glass the rum is a light gold/straw colour.  I would guess that it hasn’t been coloured.  It does appear to have been lightly filtered though.  No sugar or other additives have been added.

At such a high ABV the nose is very strong.  However the alcohol notes are not too severe or overwhelming.  I am still able to pick out some notes.  Initially it reminds me of the Mezan Guyana only revved up a bit more.  Which is pretty much what it is!

It’s another what I would call clean almost clinical smelling rums.  It has a very crisp menthol and anise note which dominates.  There are also notes of mint and tree sap. There is quite a lot of spicy oak on the nose as well – which gives the rum an almost savoury whisky like note.

How the rum has been aged or rather what barrel it was aged in I do not know.  I think its either well used Bourbon or ex-Scotch Whisky barrels.  There isn’t a lot of vanilla or sweet chocolate of fruity notes.  Any sweetness is a licorice/aniseed note.

Sipped at full strength this is a very intense, spicy and dry rum.  Flavour initially tingles on the tongue – big hits of salted licorice and really drying oak spice.  The finish is reasonably decent but not very long lasting.  You have to take very small sips at this ABV so I do feel I’m missing out a little.

Water really is your friend with this rum unless you really do have a preference for such high ABV rum.I’d recommend a fair few drops as well.  This for me brings out more flavour.  I can enjoy it more by sipping larger amounts and getting more of my taste buds involved.

It’s undoubtably a Port Mourant rum – the licorice and aniseed dominate throughout the sipping experience.  Running alongside the licorice the interaction with whatever oak it has been aged in also shines.  As mentioned already its dry and very spicy.  Very clean tasting with a very definite whisky “sharpness” in the finish.

This is very similar to the Mezan Guyana.  The extra ABV (even when I dilute the rum its still only to around 46%) does make a difference though.

This is very unlike tropically aged Demerara from Velier.  It is even further away from the El Dorado range from DDL themselves.

All in all a honestly made, well aged (I’d probably have preferred Tropical ageing) rum from an iconic still.  It isn’t my personal all time favourite Demerara but its pleasant enough.