Good news for you rum connoisseurs out there: there’s a fifty-year-old rum by Appleton Estate, and you can buy some! Not that much though; only 800 bottles were produced, and Canada won’t be getting many. In fact, we hear that Ontario only gets three.
The story goes that back in 1962, Appleton Estate set down a few barrels with the edict that they be used to make something commemorating Jamaica’s independence fifty years down the line. Of course, we make spirits for the people who follow us, so whilst master distiller Owen Tulloch guided the casks through their youth, it was his successor, master distiller (and the best person in the world to share a glass of rum with) Joy Spence who assembled the spirit.
We haven’t had the pleasure (although we liked the 12 Year Old and the 21 Year Old) but we’re told that Independence Reserve has a powerful oak nose, with notes of cinnamon, maple, and Appleton’s signature orange peel. As one might expect, it has a pronounced green age ring.
Independence Reserve comes in a bespoke crystal decanter with a gold-finished brass and cork stopper. It comes in a lacquered gift box, and it’ll set you back $5,000 at least.
