Made in Bermuda, Goslings Black Seal Rum is a portal to the island’s blithe, blue skies. One sip and you’re sailing to a destination deficient in emails and abundant in flavor, swimming in notes of butterscotch, vanilla and caramel.

Unlike other, less sophisticated spirits, Black Seal includes products of both pot stills – used to make fine Cognacs and continuous stills – used for making grappa, resulting in a nuanced liquid that has unsurprisingly charmed the argyle socks off many.

Taste: Rich, intricate flavour, well balanced with thick, sweet spices, stewed fruits, vanilla.

Aroma: Fruitcake, herbal and spice, butterscotch, banana, vanilla.

Colour: Dark copper mahogany.

Finish: Spice, crisp, tingling.

Goslings Black Seal is rich and round, with notes of butterscotch, banana skin, warm spice, and a hint of oak. It’s sweet without being cloying, lifted by a clean finish that keeps things in check. Ideal in a Dark & Stormy, but equally good neat when the occasion calls for something more slow and moody.