You might be wondering which celebrities I’ve been drinking Guyanan rum with. Eddy Grant? Carl Hooper? Shakira? Dr Dre? Andre van Duin? Nope! The rums are the actual celebrities, sort of. They have a bit of a mythical status. Which I think is down to a couple of things. First, the fascinating history of rums from Guyana. All those distillery closures and several of their stills moving to working distilleries, resulting in the last surviving rum distillery (DDL) being somewhat of a museum of stills. Next to that, Luca Gargano and his Velier Demerara bottlings. The famous black bottles. They have a legendary status in the rum community. You could pick them up at 100 euro or so when they were released, now it will cost you thousands if you really want one. I was a little late to the game unfortunately, so I ended up with only one of these bottles and a bunch of samples from generous rum friends.
What I will never forget is the celebrity encounter I had in Venice. This must be about 10 years ago. I absolutely love the character and charm of Venice. Take me there any time and I’ll be happy. On one of my visits there, I went into a bar called ‘Chet Bar’ and checked out which rums they had on their shelves. I’m always ready to be disappointed when I do this, which is down to living in Toronto. This time though, my eyes lit up, my heart started beating a little faster. I spotted two Velier Demeraras. An Uitvlugt and and Enmore 1995! Oh my! I had to have these. Ordered a sip of both and went to rum heaven. Both were great. The Enmore was especially sublime and now has a mythical spot in my mind. It’s kind of good these bottles have become so expensive, as this memory is so wonderful……while the rum might actually not be as good as I remember it.
Let me stop the day dreaming and check out the rums for this review. I was going through my sample boxes and found some interesting Guyana rums. Interesting is perhaps not the right word. These are seriously old rums from some heavy hitter bottlers. Two distilleries, four different stills and the oldest distillation date being 1985! That particular Duncan Taylor expression was produced at the Enmore Distillery on the Versailles single wooden pot still. The Enmore distillery closed in 1993 and the Versailles still was first moved to Uitvlugt and then to the one and only rum distillery left in Guyana, Diamond.
I traded all these samples with wonderful rum friends. Tasted them in two sessions and then realized I actually have a Velier Demerara bottle. I was able to buy it when it was released years ago. How could I forget???! I added it to the lineup, which meant I had to do a third tasting session. What a punishment!
The all star cast:
· Rom Deluxe Versailles 2006 – 16yr – 53.3%
· Velier Diamond & Port Mourant 1999 <W>PM – 15yr – 52.3%
· Duncan Taylor Enmore 1985 – 27yr – 52.5%
· Maison & Velier 5th Anniversary Port Mourant 1998 (Flag series) – 24yr – 60.2%
· El Dorado Rare Collection Velier 70th Diamond & PM 2001 – 16yr – 54.3%
· Velier Diamond & Versailles 1996 SVSG – 18yr – 57.9%
Where were they aged, you might wonder:
· Rom Deluxe Versailles 2006 – 8 years tropical, 8 years continental
· Velier Diamond & Port Mourant 1999 – 15 years tropical
· Duncan Taylor Enmore 1985 – 27 years continental
· Maison & Velier 5th Anniversary Port Mourant 1998 – 2 years tropical in ex bourbon, 22 continental years in ex port
· El Dorado Rare Collection Velier 70th Diamond & PM 2001 – 16 years tropical
· Velier Diamond & Versailles 1996 SVSG – 18 years tropical
Nosing
Rom Deluxe Versailles 2006
Caramel, raisins, oak, sweet berries, molasses, wet wood, licorice, somewhat herbal, black tea, candle wax. Nice nose. Not super in your face, good to keep exploring
Velier Diamond & Port Mourant 1999
Burnt wood, BBQ meat with BBQ sauce, smoked ham, oak, caramel, raisins, molasses, salty ocean breeze, mineraly, menthol. Bonkers this one.
Duncan Taylor Enmore 1985
Glossy magazine, vanilla, oak, new car smell, light petrol, light molasses, light plastic, light fruit, light tobacco, citrus, hint of orange. It’s dusty.
Maison & Velier 5th Anniversary Port Mourant 1998
Oats, freshly baked bread, marzipan, cookiedough, rum n raisin ice cream, vanilla, pencil shavings, apricot. A little mild and flat.
El Dorado Rare Collection Velier 70th Diamond & PM 2001
Anis, oak, caramel, red berries, pine cleaner, raisins, mildly sour, pencil shavings, burnt vanilla dessert, molasses, candle wax.
Velier Diamond & Versailles 1996 SVSG
Wet wood, candle wax, has a bit of a red wine vibe, chocolate, red fuits galore, light glue, light coconut, light licorice. Fruitier than the others. It smells like a thick syrup, if you know what I mean?
Tasting
Rom Deluxe Versailles 2006
Strong oak, dark chocolate, dark black tea, anis, licorice, vanilla. The texture is thick, you can almost bite it. Medium finish with quite a lot of bitterness and wood spice. A sweet note showing up way at the end. Nice, somewhat subtle, but a little flat at the same time.
Velier Diamond & Port Mourant 1999
Burnt wood, BBQ sauce, very oaky, like licking a barrell, potters candy, vanilla, chocolate, anis. Long spicy finish that brings some sweetness forward. Reminds me of a meaty Clairin. Fascinating, but what the heck?!
Duncan Taylor Enmore 1985
Paint stripper, vanilla, oak, petrol, glossy magazine (never licked one?), medicinal, orange, ginger, licorice. Spicy long finish. The taste lasts forever. I drank gallons of water after to rinse my palate.
Maison & Velier 5th Anniversary Port Mourant 1998
A little hot. Oak, red wine, caramel, salmiak, vanilla, anis, glossy magazine. It starts as a very obvious pm and finishes thick, luscious and sweet. Solid sweet and spicy finish with a hint of bitterness. A bit thicker, rounder and sweeter than Duncan Taylor.
El Dorado Rare Collection Velier 70th Diamond & PM 2001
Soapy, spicy ginger, strong anis, crayon, oak, caramel, quite chocolaty, oak spicy but not bitter. The finish is long, spicy, fairly sweet with more ginger, caramel, oak and lots of anis. A little bitterness pops up at the end. Too much anis and ginger for me.
Velier Diamond & Versailles 1996 SVSG
Oak, chocolate, coconut, light anis, cigar ashes, leather, figs, raisins, light meat in bbq sauce. Long finish that turns very sweet. No bitterness. Very balanced and drinks well below its abv.
Conclusion
Lately I noticed I was getting tired of strong caramel notes in Guyana rum. They use so much caramel, and it kind of ruins the experience for me. That was not the case with these rums though. Joy! There are two I’d like to say a bit more about.
The Duncan Taylor is the oldest rum in this lineup. It’s also the only one without any tropical ageing. I found the flavour profile very different from all the others. Much more on the oily side of things, which I liked. By far the lightest in colour and unfortunately a little thin on nose and palate. That thinness stopped it from having a very high score. The lack of tropical ageing definitely plays a role here, although the cask they chose also has a strong influence of course.
The best one for me is the Velier Diamond & Versailles 1996 SVSG. It’s liquid velvet in a bottle with tons of layers. Super balanced and it never turns bitter. What a great rum! My bottle is almost empty unfortunately. It will be a sad farewell.
This tasting has put me back on the Guyana rum fan side somewhat. Less caramel = more enjoyment for me.
Scores
Rom Deluxe Versailles 2006 – 75
Velier Diamond & Port Mourant 1999 <W>PM – 81
Duncan Taylor Enmore 1985 – 80
Maison & Velier 5th Anniversary Port Mourant 1998 (Flag series) – 84
El Dorado Rare Collection Velier 70th Diamond & PM 2001 – 77
Velier Diamond & Versailles 1996 SVSG – 91
Click here for info on the scoring method.
Click here for the complete list of reviews.
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