Doorly's 5 Year Old Rum

Doorly's 5 Year Old comes from Foursquare in Barbados — Richard Seale's distillery, one of the most respected names in rum — and it is about as clean a picture of the Bajan style as you will find at this price. Pot and column still spirit, five years in ex-bourbon oak, and nothing added: no sugar, no colour, no dosage.

That last point matters. Seale is the loudest voice in rum's push for honest labelling, and Doorly's is where his no-nonsense approach reaches an everyday bottle. What you taste is oak, cane and time rather than a syrupy afterthought — which, for a five-year-old rum at this money, is quietly rare.

The nose is fruity and gently woody: vanilla and toffee, a twist of citrus over damp toasted oak. The palate brings pineapple and melon, buttered popcorn and golden syrup, closing on coconut and a dry oak grip. It runs drier and more structured than the sweeter Latin-style rums, which is rather the point.

A brilliant house rum and a cut above the usual mixer. It is assured enough to sip neat, yet dry enough to make a first-rate daiquiri or rum sour — the kind of bottle you keep within reach.

How to Serve

Neat, over ice, or shaken into a sour. A tumbler for sipping; a coupe for the cocktail.

Where to Drink It

Bar Lotus — for a textbook Bajan daiquiri. The Connaught Bar — precise, classic cocktail-making. Black Rock in Shoreditch — knowledgeable staff, deep back bar.

Food Pairings

Grilled prawns with lime, or a wedge of coconut cake.