89 THE NAVIGATOR | EXPRESSION MHOBA 2020 WR1 “SMOKEY” Aged in a Bourbon cask WR1 (Woodford Reserve cask #1) and WR4 (Woodford Reserve cask #4) are two contrasting single casks, selected together, and each bottled as a single cask to showcase two very different cask characters, despite both being sister casks. In particular WR1, AKA “Smokey”, is a cask that was always notably smokey when nosing the cask at the distillery and is best shown in a head to head alongside WR4 which brings out the smokey finish of this special single cask. To make these two single casks a little more approachable for a compare and contrast we opted for a bottling strength of 55% ABV. Carefully selected by Navigate World Whisky at the Mhoba Rum Distillery, this rum is a combination of single and double distillations from 2020. Filled in January 2020 and bottled in December 2023, this rum matured for just short of four years in the hot climate of the Lowveld, at the Mhoba distillery. Nose: Milk chocolate, this time more the opening of a tin of fresh milk powder, is it Nesquik, Horlicks or Cremora. Milk powder aside it is closely followed by smouldering sugarcane and brown sugar. Freshly baked brioche, brandy snaps, treacle and wafer biscuit. Wild herbs and finally a faint note of sour berries. Palate: Thick and syrupy, sticky toffee pudding with tropical fruits. White chocolate sweetness which then moves back into more bready baked goods and fruit flavoured wine gums. Finish: Thick and full with the spirit sharply revealing itself (unexpected). This spirit finish reveals the smokey notes that one usually associates with food dishes that have been smoked in a fine dining restaurant. Long, spicy, earthy, and a little vegetal (sugarcane stalk). South Africa, Pure Sugarcane Juice Rum, 55%, 750ml Single Cask #WR1, Bourbon Cask Limited edition of 241 bottles – NWW Exclusive
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