S.B.S – The 1423 Single Barrel Selection Antigua 2015. Continuing the theme of recent reviews of Independent Bottlers (IB’s), today we are reviewing a rum from Danish bottlers/brand owners/distributors 1423.

In the UK we are fortunate to receive a very healthy number of products from 1423, as the chaps over at Skylark Spirits have taken over distribution of their products.

Today we are heading to Antigua. We’ve not been for a while but a few Independent bottlers, have released rum from the Antigua Distillery over the past years. Perhaps the most notable of these a release by Velier was very well received a couple of years back.

So what do we have on offer today? Well it’s a rum from 2015 bottled in 2022 so its 6/7 years old. It is from the Antigua Distillery and is column distilled. The rum has been aged in ex-bourbon barrels and as the title would suggest is from a single barrel which yielded 257 bottles. S.B.S – The 1423 Single Barrel Selection Antigua 2015 has been bottled at Cask Strength 64.9% ABV.

There are no additives and it is non-chill filtered.

Presentation wise the rum comes in the usual stubby S.B.S bottle complete cut out cardboard sleeve and chunky cork stopper. The colour scheme for this is a light/baby blue and I have always been a big fan of the presentation of these rums.

Should you be interesting in purchasing a bottle it is currently priced at £124.95 with free delivery from Master of Malt.

There’s not a great deal else to say about this particular rum so I think we’ll get on with the fun part.

In the glass S.B.S – The 1423 Single Barrel Selection Antigua 2015 is a dark/golden brown slightly hazy showing indeed it is non chill filtered.

On the nose it is rich and fruity. I always find the rums from Antigua to be very much in keeping with column only distilled and column heavy blends from Barbados. They must be quite similar in terms of overall production.

The nose is giving me lashings of icing sugar, vanilla, toffee and rich fruity notes such as sultanas and raisins. Some nice notes of foam bananas/Bananas Foster and a very slight peppery spice. There is a hint of oak but not a great deal. Its certainly not as oaky as some Antiguan rum I have tried.

It’s fresh and vibrant smelling and I wouldn’t guess it was a 64.9% ABV monster that’s for sure.

Sipped it is more spicy but not overbearingly so. It has a rich oakiness on the initial entry. This quickly integrates itself with the rich fruitiness and sweeter notes.

Again I’m getting vanilla, raisins and bananas. Also a peppery spice and the oak notes again as we move into the mid palate. There is a slight tobacco note and the rum begins to evolve with some dark chocolate notes and a slight chilli heat.

It’s refreshingly complex for a 6/7 year old column distilled rum. This very much throws out the argument that Pot Distilled rum is the “best”. As it often suggested by some enthusiasts or wannabe experts. It is noted on some of the sites it is being sold on as being “High Congener”.

The finish is smoky and quite woody but in a good way. It’s rich and full. This rum has a real hit of flavour all the way through to its pretty long conclusion. The finish is a good length on this one and it makes for a very good sipper.

It’s probably an amazing mixer as well but I didn’t get the coke out for this review. I was enjoying it far too much neat.

If you like Foursquare, particular there “lighter” Doorly’s range then this might be a good addition. It’s quite a good intro to Cask Strength rum as well. Whilst it’s not lacking in complexity, it is quite an easy drinker for the ABV. I checked back a couple of times that the ABV was correct.