S.B.S – The 1423 Single Barrel Selection Jamaica 2007 PX Cask Finish. Rums from Jamaica have really taken off again over the past couple of years. The renaissance of the Worthy Park Estate and Hampden finally bottling their own aged rum, along with a number of very interesting high ester Jamaican bottlings from the likes of Kill Devil and Letter of Marque. All this activity, has really invigorated Jamaican rum.

Further released from the Long Pond distillery from the likes of Velier (in conjunction with National Rums of Jamaica) and Plantation have kept interest high during 2018.

Danish bottler 1423 are now getting in on the game in the form of their own S.B.S selections. They have chosen to bottle a rum from Monymusk (part of Long Pond/Clarendon distillery) – the name is actually taken from the sugar plantation rather than the name of a distillery, as such.

Monymusk have their own “brand” of rums and rum noted as being from/in the style of Monymusk is included in Captaiin Morgan’s dark rum.

1423 have 241 bottles of this PX Sherry Finished Monymusk rum available at a Cask Strength of 59% ABV. It is non-chill filtered and contains no additives. The rum was distilled back in 2007 on a Pot Still. It was bottled following a secondary maturation in PX Casks in Denmark in September 2018. A bottle of this rum will set you back around £100 in the UK.

In the glass the rum is a dark brown with a reddish/orange hue. The nose is an interesting one. It is not immediately recognisable as Jamaican rum. The PX influence is very strong. Large wafts of sweet, fruity sherry stand out on the nose.

Plump raisins and sultanas with a waft of sweet banoffee pie. Thick cut Seville Orange marmalade and some really zesty lemon peel. Further nosing reveal ginger, some more citrus fruit and a hint of clove. A little kick of white pepper as you nose further.

On the sip you get a very peppery hit of black pepper and some fennel seed. A touch of licorice and some almost tarry notes. It has a really big kick to it and tastes very much like its 59% ABV. Water helps a little but it doesn’t transform the rum as much as I would have liked.

I’ve been disappointed overall with rums hailing as being from Monymusk. They seem heavy on the alcohol but not all that good flavourwise. Not very funky and not really what I am looking for in a Jamaican rum.

The PX finish on this one does improve what I feel might be a fairly average distillate but its still not grabbing me. Overall its rough and a bit too boozy. It lacks fruitiness and doesn’t have enough funk to keep me interested.

It’s not a rum I could have more than a glass or two of. It’s just not very exciting. Th rum is hot and boozy and just a little too much of sherry. Beyond that I just don’t get much out of it.

The mid palate don’t really evolve from the initial burst of sherry and pepper – it all kind of just fades out into basically…….booze.

I’m disappointed with this to be honest – In terms of Jamaican rums its way down the list. It’s despite all the negativity, not a terrible rum but I wouldn’t pick it over a great number of other Jamaican rums.

On the plus side it is a change from the flow of similar Hampden rums from various Independent bottlers but I feel the original distillate just wasn’t punchy and flavourful enough. The PX finish has tried to add to this and possibly has done something positive but I’m struggling with this.

Not my favourite 1423 S.B.S by some way!