Description
Appleton Estate 21YO 700ml is a Jamaican rum aged for a minimum of 21 years in the island’s tropical climate, blended from pot still and column still rums at Appleton Estate in the Nassau Valley. This is the 21 Year Old Nassau Valley Casks expression, put together by Master Blender Joy Spence and bottled at 43% ABV.
Buy Appleton Estate 21YO Online in NZ
Pour it neat into a tulip or rocks glass and give it a few minutes before the first sip, or add a few drops of water to open up the nose. Dark chocolate, roasted nuts or a slice of rich fruit cake all sit well alongside it.
- Aged a minimum of 21 years in Jamaica
- Blend of pot still and column still rums
- Made with Jamaican limestone-filtered water
The colour is deep mahogany with an olive green ring at the rim, a sign of long ageing. The nose opens floral, then moves to nuts, deep vanilla, orange peel, nutmeg, warm coffee and cocoa, and the finish is long and dry with a slight, restrained sweetness.
Appleton Estate sits in the Nassau Valley in the heart of Jamaica, and its rum making is usually dated to 1749, the year shown on the neck of the bottle. The water used in production is filtered naturally through Jamaican limestone, and the 21 Year Old is one of the rums the estate presents as a tribute to the valley it calls home.
Joy Spence joined Appleton as a chemist and in 1997 became the first woman appointed Master Blender in the spirits industry. The mix of still types matters in a blend like this one. Pot stills give a heavier, more flavoursome spirit, while column stills produce a lighter one, so combining the two shapes both the weight and the detail of the finished rum.
Tropical ageing also changes the picture. In Jamaica’s heat the spirit works into the wood faster than it would in a cool warehouse, and more is lost to evaporation each year, so a 21 year age statement from the tropics represents a long time in cask and a good deal of patience.
A considered bottle for a rum collector, a whisky drinker curious about older rum, or a milestone gift.
