Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG 2002

This El Dorado Rare Collection bottling is a single still Demerara from Guyana, drawn off the Versailles single wooden pot still and carrying its VSG marque. Versailles is one of the heritage greenheart wood stills now gathered at Diamond, and its signature sits between the elegant Enmore and the oily Port Mourant: robust, tannic and raw with wood. This is the dry, unsweetened, cask strength side of El Dorado, a world away from the softer sugared core range.

Distilled in 2002 and tropically aged thirteen years in ex-bourbon oak, it is dense and wood driven: roasted timber, licorice and barrel char on the nose, then prunes, caramel and more licorice on a tannic, drying palate, finishing woody and slightly smoky. At 63% it is forceful and spiky, so it asks for time in the glass or a splash of water to open. It rewards experienced palates who want raw heritage still character with nothing added to round it off.