A fascinating release from Plantation.

This bottling revives the classic 19th century style of Jamaican rum. Made with 100% pot still rums, this bottling brings back the distinctive “Jamaican Funk” so highly prized by rum aficionados. “Hogo”, as it is called (an English bastardisation of the French term “Haut Goût”, meaning “high taste”) offers unique flavours of flamed bananas and grilled pineapple. The emphasis with this bottling is very much on capturing this phenomenon of Jamaican distilling.

This bottling takes its name from Xaymaca (pronounced ‘Zay-Muck-Uh’), the original indigenous name for the island, from which the word Jamaica evolved. The rum hopes to capture this same sense of originality and history.

With Xaymaca Special Dry, I wanted to dive into the iconic culture that is unique to Jamaican rum. I wanted to work with these complex flavors of overripe exotic fruits with an almost "animal intensity". We can still find certain white rums with this famous « rum funk ». I think, however, that this great terroir expresses itself perfectly in an aged rum. That is why we are launching Xaymaca Special Dry, which is a tribute to this ancestral culture of rum.Alexandre Gabriel

Plantation Xaymaca is a product of Plantation’s master blender Alexandre Gabriel’s vision, and his moves in the market. Plantation now own a third of the legendary Long Pond and Clarendon estates, known for their emblematic retort stills, which according to Gabriel “look like ancient pachyderms”. Indeed, it is this ownership that makes this rum possible, as it is made with a blend of rums distilled in the old John Dore pot still at Long Pond and the Vendôme (a monstrously large double retort pot still).

This rum has been distilled from Molasses, which were fermented in wooden barrels for between 1 to 3 weeks. The spirit has been aged in Jamaica in former Bourbon barrels for between 1 to 3 years, and then finished in former Ferrand Cognac casks for another year, in France. This rum contains esters to level of 156 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol, bringing it up to the traditional Plummer marque.

The result is an exceedingly complex rum, with notes of heady, yeasty cooked fruits (bananas, plantains, mangos, and pineapple particularly), alongside some touches of grape, apricot, apples, treacle, dried flowers, coconut milk, spice, toasted nuts, flamed orange peel, pastry, chopped herbs, cigar smoke and some slight meaty jackfruit like flavours.

Bottled at 43% ABV, colouring is added at a ratio not exceeding 0.1% of the spirit.

A truly fascinating rum that will tickle the fancy of purists.

• Product type
  Dark
• Distillery / brand
  Plantation
• Country
  Trinidad and Tobago
• Bottler
  Distillery Bottling
• Non-chillfiltered
  No
• Natural colour
  No
• SKU
  035875