Rum, Jamaica
Long Pond’s roots date back to the mid-18th century. The distillery’s archives go back to 1780, notably including records of the production of eighty-five 500-litre puncheons of rum. With an ester content of 1,200-1,300 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol, this version is anything but shy. Overflowing with empathy, it weaves a syrupy thread through the tasting so that Ariadne can travel with ease through a palette of flavours and aromas which brilliantly demonstrates that the most direct path is not always the best.

TASTING NOTE

Appearance: old gold with glints of coppery orange.

Nose: extroverted, powerful. Very noble expressed hydrocarbon notes (diesel, rubber) bring the first nose lots of personality. The very slender aromatic palette stretches far into the horizon of a sugarcane field. Allowed to breathe, it releases a deliciously floral sweetness (rose, gardenia). With time, a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers is placed on an antique table (beeswax, clove, emery cloth, citron).

Palate :clean, precise. The delicately reductive (tyre, black olive) attack is particularly mineral (schist, manganese). A subtle liqueur of bitter orange, geranium flower, sugar cane and cane sugar, it develops an increasingly chocolatey, tertiary and autumnal (mushroom, dried leaves) register. Exotic fruits (mango, banana, pineapple, guava) are found at the peak of the flavour palette.

Overall :long, oily. Oxidative yet generous, the start of the finish is divinely syrupy. Quince jelly, heather honey and salted butter caramel share the palate. At the back of the palate, gentian root and candied ginger create a wall of flavours upon which the taster is offered a short rest. The retro-nasal olfaction creates a link to the hydrocarbon notes found on the initial nose. The empty glass is medicinal, hot (cayenne), preciously woody and terpenic (essential oils).