The Canberra Distillery Old George Reserve Rum

Matured for a minimum of two years on the shores of Lake George in the ACT, The Canberra Distillery’s only rum sports a classic Aussie nose of powerful oak and buttery brown sugar, but missing the harsh, rubbery notes of Australia’s most famous rum. This is very much in the Jamaican and Barbadian style of heavy, full-flavoured sweetness that any pirate worth their peg-leg would be happy to swig, but it’s not all bombast – there’s plenty of delicate complexity here, too. On the palate, the oak is dominant but backed up by enough sweetness to be entirely pleasant and with a good molasses finish. It’s perhaps a touch texturally thin, but it’s a minor complaint about a really decent drop.

Fred Siggins