Wagemut by N. Kröger PX-CASK is based on a 10-year-old rum from Barbados, which undergoes its entire primary maturation under tropical conditions in ex-bourbon casks. The rum is then shipped to Germany, where Wagemut takes over the finishing process. Here, it is finished for at least three months in freshly emptied Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. A distinctive feature lies in the preparation of these casks: Wagemut is able to source sherry in larger containers directly from Spain and re-coat the casks with PX sherry before filling them with rum. This means that the casks, still moist from their sherry storage, come into contact with the matured Barbados rum. The base spirit was distilled in both pot stills and column stills.

At 40.3% ABV in the 0.7-litre bottle, the PX-Cask is one of Wagemut’s flagship bottlings. The producer is particularly transparent in communicating the key details: 10 years’ maturation in Barbados, at least three months’ PX sherry cask finish in Germany, ex-bourbon casks for the main maturation, and no added colouring. It is important to note, for the sake of correct classification, that Wagemut itself uses the trade description ‘spirits’. The finished product should therefore not be described as a classic rum, but as a spirit based on 10-year-matured Barbados rum with a PX sherry cask finish. It is precisely this combination of long-term tropical maturation and subsequent finishing in freshly emptied PX casks that forms the key distinguishing feature of this bottling.