DDL El Dorado 25 Vintage 1986

This is Demerara Distillers' own El Dorado at the grand age of twenty five years, an age statement blend built from the Guyanese heritage stills the company runs at Diamond. As with the El Dorado range, it is sweetened, and the roundness here is partly dosage rather than the spirit alone, so it drinks as a soft, dessert leaning Demerara rather than a dry one. The honesty matters: this is built for richness, not purity.

Drawn from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it noses on wood, leather, ripe fruit and molasses, then carries spice, sweetness and tannins across a smooth palate before a sweet finish of vanilla, tobacco and oak. At a gentle 43% it is mellow and easy, the kind of sweet, full bodied old rum that suits slow after-dinner sipping. Tasters consistently find it markedly sweet, so anyone seeking a bone dry, full proof Demerara should look to the independents instead, while those who enjoy a luxe, sugared style will find plenty to like.