Mezan is an independent bottler from the UK that prides itself on its pure rums, without any additives/colorants and only lightly filtered. They take rum chosen by their Cellar Master and mature it in ex-Bourbon casks (I believe there is continental ageing involved, although it’s unspecified) until “it has reached the hight of its potential” (taken from their website).
The Mezan I have comes from Jamaica – Worthy Park, it’s made from molasses, double distilled in a Forsyth’s copper pot still, aged for 12 years from 2005 to 2012 and bottled at 46% ABV (all this info is available on the back of the bottle). 2005 is also the year when Worthy Park started making rum again for the first time since 1962. Now just let me pour it in the glass…
On the nose the first thing that hit me was damp soil. Pineapple/banana, olive brine and leather complemented by wet oak. Some spices and grassy notes too. Yep, this is a Worthy Park (not that I had too much Worthy Park in my life, but I tasted another one last week and the style is easily recognizable).
On the palate now… juicy, tropical juice to be more precise. Now this isn’t a cask strength monster, but the flavors are definitely there: it’s like eating green olives and bananas in the same time. There are some floral notes with apricot, melon and an agave-ish sweetness. Some aniseed is present in the background along with some citrus – lemon. The earthy flavor is on the palate as well along with some walnuts. Slightly acidic taste, the kind that would stand out if this was a cask strength Worthy Park. A bit of varnish, oak, leather and grass on the finish. For some reason I am not a fan of the sweetness lingering, although it might be just a mood thing. The lack of strong woody notes reinforces my belief that this has been aged (at least mostly) continentally, but I’m not complaining. The juice is the main star!
If you want to be introduced to the Jamaican fruity funk in a gently way, get this! Some high ABV/ester Jamaican rum drinkers might call this a blasphemy, but I would happily buy this again too!
Mezan Jamaica 2005 (Worthy Park) score:
Flavour/taste: 49/70
Value for money: 9/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 73/100
Cheers!