Portsmouth Distillery 1747 5 Year Old Aged Rum is the second aged rum to be released by Portsmouth Distillery. It is a single cask bottling of pot still rum aged for 5 years in ex-Bourbon casks at the cellars at their Fort Cumberland base, less than 100 metres from the Solent. It follows on from the 1812 3 Year Old release and lays claim to being the first 5 year old rum produced in England.
Portsmouth Distillery’s rums are made using powdered sugar cane juice imported from Costa Rica. This is then rehydrated at the distillery, and the resultant sugar cane syrup is then fermented. This is a long, slow fermentation (their very first fermentation took 4 weeks or so) after which the ferment is distilled through the distillery’s two stills, a 500 litre pot still (nicknamed Sophie Wu) and a 4 plate column still.
Using sugar cane syrup instead of molasses as a base produces a more aromatic, herbaceous style of rum. Production began in 2019, and the casks of rum have been quietly laid down to age in ex-Bourbon casks in the casemates of Fort Cumberland, some 100m from the Solent.
Each bottling of Portsmouth Distillery 1747 5 Year Old Aged Rum will be a single cask bottling for the time being, so there will be some subtle variation in aromas and flavours between bottlings.
The rum is aged for at least 5 years in ex-Bourbon cask at the cellars in Fort Cumberland. Portsmouth Distillery 1747 5 Year Old Aged Rum is bottled at 45% ABV.
From the distillery,
“On the nose and the palate, the influence of the oak now matches the bourbon, with rich aromas of overripe bananas and tropical fruits. Initially on the palate, there is an intense sweetness of nutty caramel, turning delicately into rich dark chocolate, leaving a very pleasant lingering softness which caresses the tongue”.
Enjoy neat or with a large ice cube. Also a good rum to make a rum Old Fashioned with a dash of bitters and a twist of orange peel to highlight its deep caramel and oak notes.
Gold Medal – 2025 International Spirits Competition (American Distilling Institute).
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.