S.B.S. – The 1423 Single Barrel Selection Mauritius 2008. 1423 have been releasing a varied selection of single cask rums over the past couple of years. They haven’t stuck rigidly to the likes of Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados.

We have featured a few rums from Mauritius over the past few years. Most of those have been from the Medine Distillery. This particular bottling, is however from another distillery on the island.

Grays Distillery was originally built-in 1931. In 1980 it was modernised and expanded. Grays Distillery produces vodka as well as rum and other spirits for the domestic market. In terms of brands Grays Distillery produces the New Grove range of rums, which are available in the UK and Europe.

This particular rum was produced on a column still. It is a molasses based rum distilled in 2008. It was moved to 1423 in Denmark in 2017 and was given a Port Cask finish. There are 281 bottles of this available it is bottled at 55.7% ABV. It is available in the UK at Master of Malt and will set you back £92.45 for a 70cl bottle. In the UK these rums are distributed by Skylark Spirits.

Presentation is in keeping with the rest of the 1423 S.B.S range. So you get the stubby rounded bottle with the chunky plastic topped cork stopper and the cut out style cardboard sleeve to store the rum in.

In the glass S.B.S – The 1423 Single Barrel Selection Mauritius 2008 is a dark brown liquid with a red/orange hue to it. I am unsure how much time was spent ageing this rum in Mauritius (and the Port cask might also have coloured this rum) but it looks every bit its ten years.

The nose is very rich and fruity. Bursts of sultanas and raisins followed by Orange Marmalade, spicy ginger stem biscuits and some red wine. It’s full and inviting. Notes of vanilla from the cask round this out along with a little oak to give it a complex but well-balanced nose. It’s pretty fiery though with a good dose of nail varnish thrown in there as well! Good stuff so far.

Sipping on this rum is manageable even at the full ABV. The rum is actually a lot drier than the nose suggests. The initial couple of sips are very spicy with lots of oak and fiery pepper like spice, a touch of chilli even. These are tempered however by a slightly “minty” like not once you move into the mid palate. The rum almost cools itself down a notch of two.

Further sips see some fruitiness return however more as dry stoned fruits – a touch of prune and some dates. Lots of dry red wine notes also come into play especially on the mid palate and the finish. There is a lot of grape/wine influence from the Port Cask which and an extra layer. Some slight tobacco notes and some slightly mineral like notes.

The finish is of a very reasonable length and has a really nice spicy element to it. Nice charred oak spices and some real flavour from the Port Cask finish.

I’ve only tried the New Grove Rums from Grays Distillery at tasting event. As a result I am not all to familiar with how much this compares to their releases. All I do know is that this is a very tasty and complex column still rum which proves that it’s not all about the Pot Still. How much the Port Cask finish has lifted this rum I am not sure but it’s certainly added something to the rum.

I honestly can’t think of another type of rum which is similar to this bottling. It reminds me mostly of other rums aged in Port Cask – I would say its a good deal drier than Foursquare’s more akin perhaps with the Bristol Spirits Port Mourant 1990 which was finished in a Port Pipe.

It’s a very interesting bottling and will only help raise the profile of Mauritian rum.

Good stuff 1423. Really interesting.