While I was at WhiskyShine in Macau, rum was not my main focus, but this bottle of TDL 2003 definitely caught my attention. It’s bottled in the Thirty-Five series, which consists of cute 35 cl cube bottles. Although the 35whisky.com website that is mentioned on the label doesn’t exist, I believe it’s part of the Lucky Choice brand.
This bottle was introduced to me by the very friendly Chinlam who is importing whisky and cognac to parts of China, while at the same time selecting his own casks. Too bad it’s so hard for Europeans to learn about whisky or rum bottled in Asia. Google totally fails at suggesting websites in Chinese, and the information that you do find requires automated translation.
T.D.L. 22 yo 2003 (58,5%, 35 Whisky for Chinlam 2025, bourbon barrel #0307, 310 btl.)
Nose: abundant lychee, mango sherbet and mango liqueur, along with hints of bananas, pink grapefruits and pineapple. Some saline and varnished notes underneath, as well as sandalwood and spearmint. Subtle floral touches, almost hoppy even, with hints of bergamot tea and limestone in the distance. Great fruitiness.
Mouth: a lychee bomb really. Lots of sherbety fruits, more pink grapefruit, pink bananas, maracuya ice cream and guava. Mid-palate it becomes mentholy and salty, with hints of black olives. As you know salt enhances the fruitiness in some cases, which is quite spectacular here. Later hints of peppermint, more bergamot, a little liquorice and subtle hints of petrol.
Finish: very long, still on lychee and mango sherbet, pink grapefruit and some light leafy notes.
Lychee and maracuya are jumping out of the glass here. Add some salinity and you get a hell of a rum. TDL is still very high on my personal list of favourites and this is just a lovely example. A cubic gem.