Smith + Cross Jamaica Rum 57%

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 57% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: Yes

Special Features:

Smith & Cross brings together two traditional Jamaican rum styles: full-bodied Wedderburn and medium-bodied Plummer distillates, produced exclusively in pot stills. Fermentation uses a yeast strain native to Jamaica. The blend contains roughly equal proportions of the two styles. The Wedderburn component matures for less than one year, while the Plummer component comprises rums aged for between one and a half and three years in white oak casks.

Bottled at 57%, this rum carries the Navy Strength designation. Smith & Cross contains no added sugar and is not chill-filtered. Caramelised banana, tropical fruit and spice give it a distinctly Jamaican character. Its aromatic presence also makes it well suited to cocktails such as the Daiquiri, Mai Tai or Kingston Negroni.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose is remarkably intense, bringing together pineapple and very ripe banana with tobacco, cocoa, cloves and cinnamon. Pungent and earthy notes lie beneath.
• Palate: The palate opens with sugar-cane sweetness and the bitterness of dark treacle. Banana, prunes, sultanas and caramelised orange peel follow. Once the sweetness reaches its peak, it recedes, allowing leather and tobacco to emerge.
• Finish: The long, warming finish combines sweetness with spice and fades to an earthy, dry close.

Distillery/Bottler:

The story behind Smith & Cross began in 1788 with a sugar refinery on Thames Street near the London docks. Together with partner companies, this business developed into a substantial Jamaican rum trading operation, supported by extensive cellars along the Thames. Today's brand carries on the trading heritage of Smith & Tyers and White Cross. For generations, the two companies worked side by side in the premises of what is now Hayman Distillers. Smith & Cross thus connects Jamaican pot still distillates with the history of London's rum trade.

Facts: