Planteray 40 Year Old Rum Jamaica 1984
Planteray 40 Year Old Rum Jamaica 1984 is a 57.2% ABV (114.4 proof), 750mL single-cask Jamaican rum — distilled in 1984 at Clarendon Distillery, aged 35 years in the tropics and 5 more in France, and bottled at cask strength in 2024 as the oldest rum Planteray has ever released. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.
- ABV: 57.2% (114.4 proof) — cask strength
- Size: 750mL
- Age: 40 years — distilled 1984, bottled 2024
- Distillery: Clarendon Distillery, Lionel Town, Jamaica — MMW (Monymusk Wedderburn) mark
- Distillation: 100% pot still (Vendome double retort), molasses
- Ageing: 35 years tropical ageing in ex-bourbon casks in Jamaica, then 5 years continental ageing in ex-Ferrand Cognac casks in France
- Release: A single cask — 317 numbered bottles, each hand-signed by Master Blender Alexandre Gabriel, with a certificate of authenticity in a bespoke wooden box
- Dosage: 0 g/L — no added sugar
- Origin: Jamaica
Forty Years, Two Continents, One Cask
Planteray is Maison Ferrand's rum house — renamed from Plantation in January 2024 — and this is the oldest rum it has ever released. The spirit came off a Vendome double retort pot still at Clarendon in 1984 carrying the MMW mark, then spent 35 years ageing in ex-bourbon casks under the Jamaican sun before being shipped by sea to south-west France for five final years in ex-Ferrand Cognac casks — the house's signature double ageing, stretched across four decades. One cask survived to bottling: 317 numbered bottles, each hand-signed by Master Blender Alexandre Gabriel with a certificate of authenticity. Even the packaging is made from the rum's own history — the decanter's wooden stopper is built from disassembled old casks, and the medallion on each bottle is cut from the staves of the actual Jamaican cask that held this rum, hand-engraved and numbered. "A great eau-de-vie is not a photograph, it's a film," Gabriel says of a rum like this. Browse the Planteray collection and more rum at Del Mesa.
Tasting Notes
The brand's own notes: the nose is very complex — slightly smoky and meaty, with fruity, herbal and sour notes, then vanilla, almost pastry-like, with cooked banana, bitter orange peel and ripe pineapple. The palate is dry, floral and fruity — rose water, soursop, pear, white grape, apricot and sugar-apple — before coconut milk, balsam, allspice, bread and nuts emerge; the finish runs to candied nuts, toasted coconut, allspice, balsam and bread. At 543 g/hL AA of esters, this is a high-ester Jamaican rum of real intensity beneath the elegance.
How to Enjoy
Give it time in the glass — Gabriel's own instruction is to keep a rum like this in front of you for a long while, as it evolves enormously. Neat, unhurried, and preferably when you can give one of 317 bottles the attention it has waited forty years for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which distillery made Planteray Jamaica 1984? Clarendon Distillery in Lionel Town, Jamaica — a 100% pot-still rum carrying the MMW (Monymusk Wedderburn) mark. It is not a Hampden or Long Pond rum.
How was Planteray 1984 aged for 40 years? By Planteray's signature double ageing: 35 years in ex-bourbon casks in the tropics in Jamaica, then 5 more years in ex-Ferrand Cognac casks in France.
How many bottles of Planteray Jamaica 1984 exist? 317 numbered bottles from a single cask, each signed by Master Blender Alexandre Gabriel with a certificate of authenticity — the oldest rum Planteray has ever released.
What proof is Planteray Jamaica 1984? 57.2% ABV (114.4 proof), bottled at cask strength with 0 g/L dosage — no added sugar.
One cask, 317 bottles, four decades — secure Planteray 40 Year Old Rum Jamaica 1984 at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA, while it exists.