Swell de Spirits T.D.L Private Garden #4 2005
For experienced palates, this 18‑year, 62.1% T.D.L. single cask rewards attention with tropical fruit, vanilla, dark chocolate, mint and polished oak. RumX members praise its balance, dry elegance and superb alcohol integration across 71 reviews.
- Great balance
- Super alcohol integration
- Complex fruit and oak
Details about Swell de Spirits T.D.L Private Garden #4 2005
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How does Swell de Spirits T.D.L Private Garden #4 2005 taste?
Aggregated from 71 community reviews.
Elegant, powerful Trinidad charmer For experienced palates, this 18‑year, 62.1% T.D.L. single cask rewards attention with tropical fruit, vanilla, dark chocolate, mint and polished oak. RumX members praise its balance, dry elegance and superb alcohol integration across 71 reviews.
Fans of well-aged, cask-strength Trinidad rums who enjoy dry, balanced profiles with tropical fruit, chocolate, vanilla and a subtle minty T.D.L. touch.
Those sensitive to high ABV or looking for a very sweet, ultra-minty or explosive T.D.L. profile with big funk and heavy intensity.
How is Swell de Spirits T.D.L Private Garden #4 2005 rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.5 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Incredibly beautiful successor to the already grandiose swell private garden #1. Red fruit jelly, mint jelly and mint tea meet dark chocolate-caramel mousse, plus caramelized banana, some tart-fresh eucalyptus tea, fresh vanilla pulp and dried fig, as well as subtly dirty and smoky after tar and smoke. The slight sweetness is really pleasant and in general the alcohol is perfectly integrated here and virtually imperceptible. Grandiose bottling! As if the best of the rather chocolaty TDL's meet the rather fresh, dirty TDL's and make a perfect baby.😃🙈😍 Has a subtle caroni or caroni finish. Still a super TDL bottling under the radar!🇹🇹💣🌺
Review by Thunderbird
This is a special TDL, not as classic as I was used to, but very tasty. The nose is very fruity and soft, I also perceive a slightly nutty, savory aroma. On the palate it is very creamy and initially exudes a heavy sweetness, followed by fruit, chocolate and later slightly dirty nuances... very pleasing, the whole thing, The finish is characterized by light wood, vanilla, roasted nuts and sweet fig. I like it very much
Review by zabo
Edit the second: It still doesn't convince me, sorry. I'm glad the bottle is empty now. After splitting this one and only sipped it briefly, I tasted it again today together with Jarek. I gave it a good half hour in the glass before my co-taster arrived. It developed steadily on the nose during this time. As Jarek aptly put it, in a blind tasting we would probably both have categorized it as a Barbados. For me, it is too well-behaved and the typical T.D.L markers are not clearly recognizable. Nice for sipping. It's not bad, but it didn't really blow me away or trigger any euphoria. The alcohol is well integrated, but it's a little too one-dimensional for me and the finish is too short. In contrast, I find the 2006 Bristol that I had in my glass afterwards much better.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4804 09.08.2024 Relaxing with some samples. Nose Fresh, fruity, light wood, vanilla, faint caramel, faint nutts, balanced, cherry. Palate Medium intense, wood, fruits, vanilla, light coconut, cherry, light roasted, faint caramel, faint varnish. Finish Medium long, round, fruits, cherry, faint medicinal, wood, faint caramel, faint mint. The empty glass has light metallic and some fruit candy.
Review by mto75
very balanced TDL. Here, the dirty-mentholy notes are less present, rather the fruity and floral (and a bit of butter cake).
Review by TheRhumhoe
Swell de Spirits explore TDL sous ce Millésime 2005, qui débute sur un nez très doux, arrondi par les arômes caramélisés et pâtissiers. Le fût de chêne a fait son travail, en incorporant des épices douces mais marquées (piment doux, vanille, poivre), et surtout des notes chocolatées, caféinées et des traces de fruits à coque. Après aération, les fruits tropicaux sont plus distincts, notamment la banane et la mangue, mais c’est l’orange qui occupe une bonne partie du verre. Un profil plus classique de chez TDL, qui perturbe presque par cette douceur et presque « monotonie ». En bouche, on retrouve davantage de caractère avec un fruité qui vient en attaque (pêche, mangue, banane, fruits rouges, agrumes). Le bois, les épices et les notes rôties viennent en soutien, appuyées par des notes beurrées et pâtissières toujours aussi gourmandes. Si on décèle un soupçon de menthol et d’eucalyptus, c’est surtout le côté mielleux et sirupeux du jus qui l’emporte. L’alcool est très bien intégré. La finale est de longueur correcte, laissant transparaître les saveurs décrites précédemment, les fruits exotiques et l’eucalyptus donnant le pas, avant que le chocolat noir, les épices et le bois viennent contrebalancer le profil avec un côté légèrement amer, sur le rôti et le cuir. Un TDL bien exécuté, qui souffre néanmoins d’une comparaison avec d’autres TDL plus pêchus en faisant passer la gourmandise avant la complexité.
Review by Timo Groeger
Shopbesuch Rhum Attitude Brüssel Mai 2025. Als Sample mitgenommen. Als nächstes gibt es zwei Swells. Also das dies ein T.D.L ist, da wäre ich auch drauf gekommen. In der Nase zwar holzig, nussig und Vanille, am Gaumen dafür aber wieder größtenteils Minze.
Review by DomM
Nice TDL. Well balanced with nice mango notes. However, even with very long time in the glas alcohol remains to present on the nose and palate for a better score.
Review by Jakob
Rather classic TDL, i.e. without the present mint-menthol aroma that characterizes many post-2000 TDL releases. However, this does not mean that this release has to hide - what happens here between caramel, vanilla, chocolate, dried fruit, wood notes and spices is really fun. Smooth, but not at the expense of finesse and elegance. Great!
Review by Maxime Clr 🇫🇷
Nice selection from Swell, but a notch below the Clos des Spiritueux TDL in my opinion. We're not on the current markers of the TDLs coming out at the moment. Beautiful bottle, very marked by the bourbon. Very patissier side with red and tropical fruit and lots of vanilla. Superbly integrated alcohol.
Review by Nivius
Delicious and round TDL, which goes in the fruity direction (orange), but lacks depth and complexity overall. The finish is very short. All in all, I expected more and fortunately only got a sample.
Review by Mirco
Eleganter T.D.L. mit feiner Balance zwischen tropischer Frucht, Vanille und einem Hauch Minze. Die 18-jährige Reifung bringt Tiefe, ohne zu dominieren. Ein subtiler, aber ausdrucksstarker Rum, der durch seine harmonische Komposition überzeugt.
Review by Romain de L
Super nose : fresh, minty, but not too sugary, quite original and compelling. Taste is quite balanced - clear taste, smooth to the tongue, good alcohol integration - precise in a way. Long finish - very pleasant to enjoy
Review by CaRaph
I'm not an expert, but being the first to post a review, for what it's worth here's what I thought :
The nose is delicious, soft and very balanced. Lots of flavours starting with wood, dark chocolate and vanilla. Then come many tropical fruits especially ripe banana. Tones of tar and smoke follow along with caramelized nuts.
As the glass empties gradually came some flavours of orange, grape and funnily some slight tones of moka.
In the mouth, it begins with wood, butter and dark chocolate. Vanilla is following with banana, mango and red fruits. A warm taste of copper accompagnies the whole thing.
The finish is long, woody, with tropical fruits, chocolate and vanilla still there along tones of copper.
The empty glass was pretty interesting and delicious too : mixed flavours of coffee, vanilla and unexpectedly incense, frangipane and pastries that I wouldn't have imagined to find there.
This is a very good, balanced and complex rum with alcohol so perfectly integrated that it seemed to be pretty under the 62.1 % rate written on the bottle. Not comparable for example with Velier's Warren Khong 2010 Hampden Diamond
Review by Filip Šikula
A very very special T.D.L, but once again it confirms to me that everything that swell de spirit fills is just good. Fruity and floral notes in the aroma. After sipping, first an intense sweet profile, later fruit.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Tasting Bro's
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Community purchases
89 bottles logged by 52,000+ RumX members. The ratio of closed / opened / emptied, indicates whether this rum is meant to be drunk or is a collector's item.
Also on the wishlist of 35 members.
About the T.D.L distillery
The T.D.L distillery is located in Trinidad. Rums from T.D.L have been reviewed 7,733 times with an average of 8.3/10.
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