OSS Fatlagret Norsk Rom ("Barrel-Aged Norwegian Rum")

Here’s an interesting one. A local distiller, OSS (the same distiller that makes Bareksten Gin) has released a couple of rums. This is the first one I’ve tasted, and there’s basically no information to be found about it. What I have found is that it is made from molasses from the Dominican Republic, and fermented with (currently extremely trendy) traditional Norwegian yeast, Kveik. There is no age statement on the rum, but the use of Kveik dates it: only the most experimental breweries were using Kveik before around 2 years ago. I suspect this has been aged, then, for between 12 and 24 months. I know this distillery also uses small (~50L iirc) barrels, to try and increase wood influence—but this seems to me to be a losing battle when you’re based in the rather cold climate that is Bergen, Norway. They took the extremely brave decision of bottling this at 58.8%, which I assume is cask strength. I give them credit for that.

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Distiller: OSS Craft Distilleri AS
ABV: 58.8%
Age: NAS (my guess 12-24 months)
Cask type: Small oak barrels (only word of mouth information here)
Source: Pour at Statsraaden Bar, Bergen, Norway
Setting: Unblind

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Nose: Moss/foresty funk, pine sap, raw sugar, a cognac/grapey note. Icing sugar, butter. Burnt sugar. Shockingly little ethanol presence for the proof.
Palate: Hot and drying, a green wood note. Burnt sugar and plantains.
Finish: Here’s the ethanol. Finishes hot and super astringent/drying, with some sweet fruit and green grape. A hint of toffee and butter.
Overall: This really does come off as young, and the palate is really at odds with the nose. The nose definitely shows some promise with some funky and lighter Speyside notes, but in the mouth it’s a hot buttery mess then ends super tannic (which I don’t understand in such a young rum). It just doesn’t really work.
Rank: 3