DDL El Dorado 15 (2020 Release)

El Dorado 15 is the flagship age-stated rum from Demerara Distillers in Guyana, blended across the distillery's famous heritage stills, the wooden pot and wooden Coffey stills that survive nowhere else on earth. The age statement marks the youngest rum in the blend, so older spirit sits inside it, and the marriage of stills gives the molasses rum its depth.

Historically this expression was noticeably sweetened, but Demerara Distillers has been reducing dosage in recent years, and this 2020 release reads as an unsweetened, cleaner take on the rum. The profile is toasted oak, vanilla and caramel with dried fruit and a gentle spine of spice, drier and more honest than the older, sugar-rounded bottles. At 43% it is an approachable everyday Demerara, a good way into the style for anyone who wants the dark, woody Guyanese character without the syrupy finish of the past.