When looking at my rum collection for which bottles to review next, I realised that despite having lots of El Dorado bottles, I have not actually reviewed any of them. So, let’s rectify that right away with a variety of ED bottlings.
El Dorado is produced by Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) in the country of Guyana, which is on the North coast of South America – geographically, one of the smallest countries on the continent and with a population of around 800,000. It is the only country in South America that has English as its official language. One can therefore understand why Guyana has a rum-history akin to that of many British Caribbean islands. Rum production and sugar cultivation can be traced back to the 17th century. But whereas once there were hundreds of distilleries, now there is just the DDL-owned Diamond Distillery producing Guyana’s unique Demerara rums.
DDL’s rum production comes from nine different stills acquired from other distilleries in Guyana. There are various types of stills allowing DDL to create a range of rum styles, often leading to complex blends as a result. These stills include the “Enmore” wooden Coffey still, “Versailles” single wooden pot still, “Port Mourant” double wooden pot still, three English double-column Coffey stills and two French four-column Savalle stills. It is the historical wooden stills, crafted from tough, indigenous [to Guyana] Greenheart wood that create many of DDL’s most interesting flavoured rums not only for El Dorado but for a number of independent bottlers such as Kill Devil and Bristol Classic Rum.
One of the reasons why I enjoy El Dorado rums is the fact that the age statements on the bottles are genuine i.e. if it says 21 years old on the bottle, it means that every drop of the rum in the bottle has been aged for a minimum of 21years – no dodgy Solera-age statements. Demerara rums have their own unique style, something of an achievement amongst the hundreds and thousands of different rums in the world.
But, one of the downsides is that their blended range DOES include un-referenced additives – sugar, glycerine, vanillin etc. Whilst rum reviewers and bloggers such as myself cannot prove the presence of these additives, we can test the ABV content, which if it is shown to be lower than the bottle, then it points towards the likelihood of added sugars. Obviously, one can use one’s own taste to work out what is in a rum, but this is still subjective and of course does not prove the presence of added somethings. But, having chatted with Wes from The Fat Rum Pirate, he suggested that I should do my own ABV hydrometer tests. So, a couple of Amazon purchases later and then going forwards, I will include a reference to a hydrometer test if possible to see which bottles have been altered!!!
I do not mind what someone puts in the drinks or bottles, but please put it on the label and tell us about it. I digress…..
El Dorado rums do have a style of their own, something to be admired I think. Yes, on the sweet side, but not such that you grind your teeth together as you would with some Spanish-style sugar-bombs. ED bottlings have their own unique aromas and flavour profiles along with an extremely attractive and distinctive branding with their bottle designs and labels and they are generally pretty keenly priced. All in all, a pretty neat and tasty package from those guys at DDL, hence I buy them again and again.
So, a bit of background and history aside, here are the rums being reviewed.
As/when the reviews appear, the links will be updated.
Click on each one to go to a new page about the rum.
- El Dorado RARE Collection: 2002 Versailles 12 Year Old
- El Dorado RARE Collection: 1999 Port Mourant 15 Year Old
- El Dorado RARE Collection: 1993 Enmore 21 Year Old
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